Use of Long Read Genome Sequencing in Patients Suffering From Neurodevelopmental Troubles

Patients with neurodevelopmental diseases and their families need to identify the genetic cause of the disease to allow for recognition of the disability, genetic counseling, and possible hope for participation in therapeutic research studies. Access to high-throughput genomic exome or genome analysis allows the identification of a genetic cause for approximately half of the patients. However, families with no result or with a variant of unknown significance after these tests may find themselves in a new diagnostic impasse. The high-throughput sequencing used today generates sequences of the order of 100 base pairs (so-called "short read" sequencing). This allows an analysis of about 90% of the genome. However, many regions are not accessible in regions of interest for the genetic diagnosis of rare diseases. Long fragment sequencing generates sequences that are about 20 times larger and its use has recently made it possible to sequence the human genome almost completely (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj6987). The main contribution lies in the analysis of complex regions of the genome such as segmental duplications or centromeric regions. It is likely that this technology increases the sensitivity of detection of genetic variants in patients with genetic diseases. Its contribution should be studied in patients for whom no genetic cause has been identified by classical techniques. This study aim to investigate the contribution of long fragment genome sequencing.