Collection 

Rare diseases and genomic medicine

Submission status
Closed
Submission deadline

Globally, 3.5-6% of the human population is affected by rare diseases, corresponding to 260-450 million people worldwide. If we consider that the impact extends to family members and caregivers, rare diseases affect over 1 billion people worldwide. Rare diseases have serious social, health, and economic impacts for affected families. These difficulties stem not only from the disabilities arising from rare diseases, but also from trouble in receiving definitive diagnoses, and a lack of treatment options. The genomic revolution over the past 2 decades has led to significant advances in rare disease research as well as the establishment of nationwide projects aiming to integrate genomics into mainstream healthcare.

This Collection will feature high-impact papers on the application of genomics to tackle rare diseases. We welcome submissions on topics including (but not limited to):

  •  Integrative phenotype and genome data analysis to tackle the diagnostic/treatment challenges of rare diseases
  •  Innovative technologies and strategies to tackle rare diseases as a healthcare priority
  •  Description of novel genetic syndromes and their underlying disease mechanisms
  •  Large-scale studies providing new insight in rare disease diagnosis, disease mechanism, and treatment strategies
  •  The phenotypic spectrum of rare diseases in different ancestry groups across the world

Case reports that present phenotypic information without any genetic/genomic findings that provide new insights shall not be considered.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3.

3D image of a section of DNA, with one gene highlighted

Editors

  • Brian Hon-Yin Chung

    University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Genome Institute, Hong Kong, China

  • Pui-Yan Kwok

    Institute of Biomedical Sciences Academia Sinica, Taiwan Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA