Flash Report: 99 exomes sequenced at no charge

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reaching out to patient advocacy groups and offering to decode the DNA of 99 patients with rare diseases to help find the genetic alterations responsible for their illnesses.

The initiative is known as the Rare99X Clinical Exome Challenge. The patients’ DNA will be sequenced at the university’s Genomics and Pathology Services (GPS) at no cost to patients or the advocacy groups. GPS will begin accepting proposals for exome sequencing from patient advocacy groups on Feb. 29, which has been designated as Rare Disease Day.

More info at the Rare Genomics page