PacBio HiFi sequencing used to power first Arab human pangenome

PacBio (PACB) announced researchers have published the first Arab human pangenome in Nature Communications, powered in large part by PacBio’s HiFi long-read sequencing. The study, led by Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, MBRU, Dubai Health, assembled high-resolution genomes from 53 individuals representing diverse Arab populations across eight countries. This study results in millions of newly identified variants and over 111 million base pairs of previously unsequenced DNA, in genomic regions that were missing from widely used human references. “MBRU’s work demonstrates why population-specific pangenomes matter,” said Christian Henry, President and Chief Executive Officer of PacBio. “We are proud that MBRU, one of our earliest Revio customers, has delivered such a historic contribution to global genomics. This study will have lasting impact for research and precision medicine in a historically underrepresented population.”