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AAT Bioquest

What are the advantages of whole exome sequencing?

Posted June 24, 2022


Answer

Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a laboratory technique that focuses on sequencing only the coding regions of a genome. This process offers several advantages, primarily due to the smaller region to be sequenced.  

  • In WES, sequencing is limited to protein coding regions, which make up only about 1% to 2% of the entire genome. This reduces the cost of sequencing a targeted region at a higher depth. 
  • Because the reads represent less than 2% of the whole genome, it costs less to sequence a targeted region at a higher depth. 
  • Because the reads represent less than 2% of the genome, it also reduces the storage requirement and the cost of analysis. 
Additional resources

Efficacy and economics of targeted panel versus whole-exome sequencing in 878 patients with suspected primary immunodeficiency

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