Next generation sequencing platforms are producing biological sequencing data in unprecedented amounts. The partners of the International Nucleotide Sequencing Database Collaboration, which includes the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), and the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ), have established the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) to prov...

Recent scientific discoveries that resulted from the application of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies highlight the striking impact of these massively parallel platforms on genetics. These new methods have expanded previously focused readouts from a variety of DNA preparation protocols to a genome-wide scale and have fine-tuned their resolution to single base precision. The sequencing...

Next generation sequencing raises new questions within the context of an existing and still evolving regulatory landscape for device manufacturers and clinical laboratories. FDA cleared the first NGS sequencing platform in November 2013, but it is unclear what lies ahead for this technology. NGS will require new types of training and expertise to interpret the vast quantities of genetic data so...

In this issue of Neurology® Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, Salzberg et al report on the results of a small prospective study of the application of nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) of RNA and DNA extracted from brain biopsy tissue specimens obtained from 10 patients with suspected neuroinfectious disease processes. In 3 patients, the NGS results, which included JC virus, Epstein-Barr virus,...

On February 20, 2015, as part of the Precision Medicine Initiative, announced by President Obama, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a meeting at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) all day. The meeting was titled ‘‘Optimizing FDA’s Regulatory Oversight of Next Generation Sequencing Diagnostic Tests’’ (Food and Drug Administration, 2015). The meeting convened thought leaders in lab...