Scientists have developed a powerful, inclusive new tool for genomic research that boosts efforts to develop more precise treatments for many diseases by leveraging a better representation of the genetic diversity of people around the world.
The new tool will allow researchers to compare natural variations in our genes against genome sequences collected from a diverse group of people. Until now, scientists have compared these variations with a “reference genome” primarily sequenced from a few volunteers (~70% from one person) living near laboratories involved in the Human Genome Project almost 20 years ago. This represented genomes from a small number of people in a small number of countries. Read more…
