CENTOGENE’s Scientific Publications
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A Dispute on Rare Disease Diagnostic Offerings
CENTOGENE was amongst the first providers of diagnostic Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and published real-life experience with this technology in 2020. That paper was subsequently challenged in a ‘Letter to the Editor’ by a competitor. We happily accepted the offer to draft a reply – advocating our…
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An Unusual Kind of Repeat Expansion Disorder
Repeat expansions are the cause of Huntington’s disease and several forms of ataxia. The affected repeat units are usually three to six nucleotides in length, and pathogenic alleles have accumulated at least several dozen units. In a newly described neurological disorder, a single extra unit of a…
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Diagnostic Relevance of Intronic Variants
Proper splicing of mRNA requires certain DNA sequence motifs. Since these motifs are very diverse, the effects of variants in them are not easy to predict. By combining CENTOGENE’s genetic testing with the histology of patient samples, an unusual intronic variant was recently revealed to be clearly…
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Exemplifying the Strengths of Genome Sequencing
Certain genetic variants are easily missed by Exome Sequencing (ES), but readily detected by Genome Sequencing (GS). Utilizing the superiority of the latter technology, CENTOGENE identified such a variant as the cause of a novel disorder. Teaming up with academic colleagues for functional studies on…
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Utilization of CentoMD® in Scientific Settings
The interpretation of newly observed genetic variants that are suspected to cause disease requires knowledge about their occurrence in different populations. CENTOGENE’s uniquely rich and diverse database - CentoMD® - is frequently encountered by academic consortia in need of such information. A…
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Turning Rare Disease Networks into Knowledge
CENTOGENE’s well-recognized expertise in Gaucher disease (GD) has helped to establish a global network of physicians interested in and aware of this rare metabolic disorder. The fact that CENTOGENE is meanwhile the primary nationwide GD partner in many countries enables unprecedented insights into…
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Genetic Cause of Impaired Neurodevelopment
Development of the nervous system is a complex process, with NEUROG1 being one out of many genes involved. The critical role of this gene was recently confirmed by CENTOGENE, when a patient with disturbed neurodevelopment was observed as having the gene knocked out. The finding was published in…
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Exemplifying the High Value of CentoMD®
Rare disease research usually focuses on pathogenic genetic variants. The lack of a disease-association for certain types of variants, however, can also be very telling. Pertinent insights into Parkinson’s disease were recently obtained by researchers at CENTOGENE. The resulting study, which built…
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A Rare Genetic Disease in Which Symptoms Naturally Improve
While most genetic disorders progress from mild to severe, a certain form of muscle disease was suggested to represent an exception. However, this was based on observations in only two patients. As a result of identifying three additional patients, scientists at CENTOGENE have now been able to…
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Genetic Stratification of Patients with Parkinson’s Disease
While Parkinson’s disease (PD) is clinically homogeneous, it can result from a multitude of genetic and non-genetic causes. Stratifying PD patients accordingly is of utmost importance for focused clinical trials, and CENTOGENE is leading the largest corresponding study ever performed. The study’s…