Refined mapping of the autosomal recessive non-syndromic deafness locus DFNB13 using eight novel microsatellite markers

Genetics and genomic medicine in Tunisia

Genetics and genomic medicine in Tunisia.

Non-syndromic hearing loss gene identification: A brief history and glimpse into the future

From the first identified non-syndromic hearing loss gene in 1995, to those discovered in present day, the field of human genetics has witnessed an unparalleled revolution that includes the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 to the $1000 genome in 2014. This review highlights the classical and cutting-edge strategies for non-syndromic hearing loss gene identification that have been used throughout the twenty year history with a special emphasis on how the innovative breakthroughs in next generation sequencing technology have forever changed candidate gene approaches. The simplified approach afforded by next generation sequencing technology provides a second chance for the many linked loci in large and well characterized families that have been identified by linkage analysis but have presently failed to identify a causative gene. It also discusses some complexities that may restrict eventual candidate gene discovery and calls for novel approaches to answer some of the questions that make this simple Mendelian disorder so intriguing.

Deafness mutation mining using regular expression based pattern matching

Background

While keyword based queries of databases such as Pubmed are frequently of great utility, the ability to use regular expressions in place of a keyword can often improve the results output by such databases. Regular expressions can allow for the identification of element types that cannot be readily specified by a single keyword and can allow for different words with similar character sequences to be distinguished.

Results

A Perl based utility was developed to allow the use of regular expressions in Pubmed searches, thereby improving the accuracy of the searches.

Conclusion

This utility was then utilized to create a comprehensive listing of all DFN deafness mutations discussed in Pubmed records containing the keywords "human ear".