Rapid Publication Navajo Microvillous Inclusion Disease Is Due to a Mutation in MYO5B

Microvillous Inclusion Disease (MID) is a rare, autosomal recessive gastrointestinal disease of increased frequency among the Navajos. Previous work has shown a deficiency of RAB8 in one Japanese patient, while homozygous mutations in MYO5B were found in 7 of 10 mostly Middle Eastern families. We have identified a shared homozygous mutation in MYO5B in seven affected Navajos with the expected heterozygosity in five parents. We have developed a simple restriction enzyme based assay that allows for rapid screening for this mutation.

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead