Clinical analysis of genome next-generation sequencing data using the Omicia platform

AIMS: Next-generation sequencing is being implemented in the clinical laboratory environment for the purposes of candidate causal variant discovery in patients affected with a variety of genetic disorders. The successful implementation of this technology for diagnosing genetic disorders requires a rapid, user-friendly method to annotate variants and generate short lists of clinically relevant variants of interest. This report describes Omicia's Opal platform, a new software tool designed for variant discovery and interpretation in a clinical laboratory environment. The software allows clinical scientists to process, analyze, interpret and report on personal genome files. MATERIALS & METHODS: To demonstrate the software, the authors describe the interactive use of the system for the rapid discovery of disease-causing variants using three cases. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: Here, the authors show the features of the Opal system and their use in uncovering variants of clinical significance.