A modern Egyptian: the first comprehensive Egyptian reference genome

Summary

In this article, we introduce you to the pioneering work of Professor Hauke Busch and Dr Inken Wohlers. Together with their team at the University of Lübeck – and with the help of Novogene de novo sequencing and our bioinformatics expertise –
Prof. Busch and Dr Wohlers successfully assembled and annotated the world’s first comprehensive Egyptian reference genome. It is hoped that this critical work will pave the way for precision medicine throughout North Africa.

Introduction

The true value of genomics can only be unravelled with true population-scale sequencing. Understanding genomic variation across populations will help propel genetic medicine, providing insight into ancestry, ecology and equity. At a recent Frontline Genomics webinar, Professor Dr Hauke Busch and Dr Inken Wohlers from the University of Lübeck shared their team’s work assembling and annotating the world’s first comprehensive North African (Egyptian) reference genome (EgyptRef). In this project, like many other de novo projects worldwide, Novogene were a true collaborative partner, providing the bioinformatic pipelines and software solutions which helped the team maximise production.