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Fola et al. perform a nationwide genomic surveillance study of P. falciparum parasites across Zambia from samples collected in 2018 and report key genetic metrics informing transmission intensity, genetic relatedness, and selection. These genomic surveillance data highlight the need to strengthen malaria control and surveillance of drug resistance.
Left-handedness is a common and partly heritable trait. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide screen for rare, protein-altering genetic variants associated with handedness in over 350,000 people, and implicate the tubulin gene TUBB4B.
The contribution of rare variants to complex traits has not been well studied. Here, the authors present RARity, a method to assess rare variant heritability without assuming a particular genetic architecture and enabling both gene-level and exome-wide heritability estimation of continuous traits.
In a prospective study involving 1,090 high-risk pregnancies, a comprehensive screening test of fetal cell-free DNA successfully detected pathogenic aneuploidies, microdeletions and monogenic variants linked to fetal anomalies. The inclusion of monogenic conditions alongside chromosomal abnormalities in this test resulted in a 60.7% increase in the detection rate for suspected fetal structural abnormalities.
Whole genome sequencing has enabled new insights into the genetic architecture of complex traits, especially through access to low-frequency and rare variation. This Comment highlights the key contributions from this technology and discusses considerations for its use and future perspectives.
A study in Nature reports the identification of new germline variants associated with particular subtypes of clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and their links to different health outcomes.
New research has identified a novel, de novo mutation in the TLR7 gene that increases the affinity of TLR7 for guanosine, leading to TLR7 overactivation and child-onset systemic lupus erthematosus.