Save the date: Concurrent Invited Session at ASHG 2018 meeting, San Diego, October 16-20, 2018

Concurrent Invited Session I, 22. Uncovering Missing Heritability in Mendelian Diseases: Lessons from Inherited Eye Diseases, ASHG 2018 meeting, San Diego, October 16-20
October 17, 10:30 AM–12:30 PM
Room 6F, Upper Level, San Diego Convention Center
Moderators: Elfride De Baere, Ghent Univ, Ghent, Belgium and Elena V. Semina, Med Col Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Eye diseases are among the most common inherited human disorders. Around one third of the known genetic defects or syndromes involve the eye. Eye research has often blazed a trail for many disciplines to follow, giving a lead in (functional) genomics, transcriptomics, genome editing, stem cell biology, animal models of disease, and the development of novel therapeutic approaches such as gene therapy. Geneticists have identified a large proportion of the genes underlying genetic eye diseases. However, the coding genetic defects identified only account for part of the morbid genome of inherited eye diseases, suggesting new classes of defects such as non-coding defects or frequent hypomorphic alleles in known or undiscovered eye disease genes. These changes are either largely undetected by conventional genomic strategies or are difficult to interpret. This session brings together a diverse group of experts in gene discovery and mechanisms of disease, bioinformatics, model systems and gene editing. They have been committed to identify genes and functionally characterize genetic defects, both coding and non-coding, that are specifically or predominantly expressed in the eye and therefore play an important role in eye function as well as in the pathogenesis of inherited eye disorders. Together, this session will address knowledge gaps in the pathogenesis of genetic eye diseases through cutting-edge approaches related to bioinformatics, (functional) genomics, genome editing and model systems as a paradigm for precision medicine in Mendelian disease.