New reference pangenome includes the complete genetic sequence of 47 individuals from different backgrounds. Each individual carries in his DNA two copies of genes 'inherited' from his father and mother.
Project expects that by mid-2024 it will include genetic information from 350 people of diverse ethnic ancestry. The new resource has already brought to light more than 100 million new bases – each of the letters that make up the genome – and uncovered new alleles in structurally complex regions of the genome that until now did not appear in the reference genome.