The Molecular Breakthroughs in mRNA Biology and Pharmacology that Paved Progress to Develop Effective mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2023 awarded to Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman recognized their seminal discoveries in nucleoside modifications of messenger RNA that were pivotal to developing the first mRNA vaccines for clinical use in humans.

FLT3 Gene Involvement in B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL).

A recent landmark study reported the value of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to uncover pathogenic abnormalities of clinical significance in patients with pediatric B-ALL enrolled in the UKALL2003 clinical trial (Schwab et al., 2023). NGS, as whole genome sequencing (WGS) or targeted NGS (t-NGS), was combined with previous data (cytogenetics, FISH and MLPA) from 351 pediatric patients with precursor B-ALL who lacked a defining genetic abnormality (B-other ALL).

The Groundbreaking Validation of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for a Comprehensive Genetic Profiling of Childhood B-cell ALL.

A new study demonstrated the power of WGS to comprehensively and accurately profile the genetic abnormalities in cases of childhood B-ALL that were previously studied with standard cytogenetics, FISH and MLPA (Ryan et al., 2023). Two cohorts with a total of 210 patients were studied.

The Confirmatory Diagnostic Value of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) as a Standalone Test for Childhood B-cell ALL: The Results of a NOPHO Trials Cohort.

The latest study with whole genome sequencing (WGS) in pediatric B-ALL validated its use as a standalone test to detect underlying clinically significant genetic abnormalities (Rezayee et al., 2023). This was a retrospective molecular survey in bone marrows previously collected and stored from 88 patients who were enrolled in NOPHO trials.

The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Svante Pääbo (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany). This award acknowledged his discoveries about the genomes of extinct hominins (Neandertal man and the Denisovans), the molecular genetic insights of human origin and evolutionary history, and the understanding of phylogenetic relationships between archaic hominins and modern humans. The scientific advances included detection of Neandertal and Denisovan DNA carried by modern humans due to past admixture events, which in turn stimulated active research about the functional and phenotypic significance of such archaic ancestry on non-disease and disease phenotypic features in modern populations.

The Novel Detection of Chromosomal Aneuploidy by SNP Microarray Tests in Domestic Dogs.

A recent report described a novel use of CMA for the first time in dogs that uncovered three cases of constitutional aneuploidy among 2,053 purebred and mixed-breed dogs. This advance is very significant because cytogenetic analysis by traditional methods in domestic dogs is technically difficult and may not conclusively identify all the abnormalities. This success with CMA testing anticipates the potential to discover more cases of canine aneuploidies as this technology becomes part of routine clinical genetic testing.

The Breakthrough of Accurate Molecular Characterization of MDS by NGS Testing of Cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) Isolated from Peripheral Blood.

A recent NGS study in patients with MDS demonstrated that molecular as well as cytogenetic abnormalities in cfDNA from peripheral blood mirror the profile in bone marrow. Such results give further support to a promising option of testing cfDNA to characterize and monitor MDS instead of using invasive bone marrow biopsies. This breakthrough expands the potential of cfDNA studies in hematologic disorders.

Optical Genome Mapping: A Revolutionary Tool for "Next Generation Cytogenomics Analysis" with a Broad Range of Diagnostic Applications in Human Diseases.

Optical Genome Mapping (OGM) has emerged as a very powerful technology to diagnose in a single step a large variety of chromosomal abnormalities with high accuracy, at an unprecedented resolution, and in a time- and cost-effective way. A few recent studies provided a proof-of-principle that OGM can replace traditional cytogenomic assays (karyotyping, FISH, and SNP-arrays) in constitutional studies and the evaluation of hematologic disorders. OGM not only identified abnormalities previously diagnosed by standard methods, it highlighted the structural complexity of some rearrangements and uncovered novel findings with potential diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance.

Delineating the Complex Genomic Landscape of Multiple Myeloma Using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS): Progress and Potential to Supersede Traditional Genetic Testing.

Recent NGS studies in multiple myeloma identified in one step and with comparable high accuracy to the concurrent cytogenomic tests the characteristic IGH translocations and copy number abnormalities. In addition, NGS allowed detection of gene mutations. This unprecedented success of a comprehensive genomic analysis suggests the possibility of replacing the separate tests in current use (cytogenetics, FISH, SNPs microarray and mutation analysis) with a single more efficient NGS assay.

The Milestone of Non-invasive Prenatal Identification of Chromosomal Abnormalities in Fetal Trophoblasts Recovered from Maternal Blood.

Two recent studies demonstrated that array CGH and NGS allow identification of chromosomal abnormalities in fetal trophoblasts circulating in maternal blood. This remarkable breakthrough paves the way for an improved assay that supersedes the performance of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in cell-free fetal DNA. Furthermore, it is foreseeable to expand the use of this new genomic analysis in trophoblasts to uncover single gene mutations of clinical significance prenatally.

Trisomy 20q13 --> 20qter in a girl with multiple congenital malformations and a recombinant chromosome 20 inherited from a paternal inversion (20)(p13q13.1): clinical report and review of the trisomy 20q phenotype.

We report on a patient with a rec(20)dup(20q) chromosome abnormality derived from a paternal chromosome 20 inversion [inv(20)(p13q13.1)]. The rearrangement results in a duplication of 20q13.

A deletion of proximal 20p inherited from a normal mosaic carrier mother in a newborn with panhypopituitarism and craniofacial dysmorphism.

We describe a newborn male with a constitutional deletion of proximal chromosome 20p involving band p11.2. The phenotype included panhypopituitarism, craniofacial dysmorphism, a small phallus with a semi bifid scrotum, and bilateral widely separated first and second toes.

A rec(4) dup 4p inherited from a maternal inv(4)(p15q35): case report and review.

A rec(4) dup 4p inherited from a maternal inv(4)(p15q35) was detected in a four-year-old girl with malformations, developmental delay, and behavioral problems that resemble those for trisomy 4p. A review of eight other liveborns with rec(4) dup 4p shows that about 40% of them also have manifestations in common with trisomy 4p, but the rest have a variable spectrum of malformations. Overall, the rec(4) dup 4p phenotype is not specific, and a diagnosis would not have been feasible without cytogenetic studies.

Mathematical model for meso- and thermophilic anaerobic sewage sludge digestion.

A mathematical model is developed to describe the dynamic behavior of mesophilic (35 +/- 5 degrees C) and thermophilic digestion (55 +/- 5 degrees C). Special emphasis is given to acetotrophic methanogenesis and propionate degradation, as the steps that determine the stability of anaerobic digestion, as well as to hydrolysis rate, which determines the degradation efficiency of particulate degradable organic carbon. Within the range of 6-20 (mesophilic) and 2-8 d (thermophilic) hydraulic retention time (HRT), the observed maximum growth rates for acetotrophic methanogens are 0.