Encephalitis is a brain inflammation that affects 4 million people worldwide. Although caused by infection or by autoimmunity, 50% of cases are never explained. Dr. Michael R. Wilson is Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of California San Francisco. He discusses how genomics can help us understand the causes of brain inflammation.

The human gut microbiome includes trillions of microbes that are important in health and disease. Genomics has revolutionized our knowledge of human gut microbial complexity. Dr. Ami Bhatt is Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Stanford University. She and her PhD student, Jessica Ribado, discuss how the human gut microbiome impacts human health.

Cell ontology is the vocabulary for defining cell types, and it's important in biology. Single-cell genomics is revolutionizing cell ontology but combining large data sets with classical knowledge is challenging. Dr. Richard Scheuermann, La Jolla Campus Director at the Venter Institute, discusses single-cell sequencing and computational methods to classify cell types.

The human genome was completely sequenced in 2003 - or, was it? Robert Fulton discusses his efforts to try and finally complete the human genome and to build a better human genome reference. Bob is Professor of Genetics at the Washington University School of Medicine, and Director of Development at the McDonnell Genome Institute in Saint Louis, Missouri.

We live in harmony with trillions of microbes in and on our bodies - the human microbiome. These microbes outnumber your cells by 10 to 1, and their genes outnumber yours by 100 to 1. But, what do they do? Dr. Kristine and Todd Wylie, Professors of Pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, discuss how they use NGS to understand the human microbiome and its association with health.

According to the US National Library of Medicine's Genetic Testing Registry, 10,000 conditions can be identified with genetic testing. The high-throughput and relatively low cost of NGS is advantageous for multigene testing. Dr. Samuel Myllykangas, co-founder of Blueprint Genetics, discusses how current and future NGS innovations may impact genetic testing.

According to the US National Cancer Institute, 15,000 children and adolescents will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States this year. Fortunately, research has improved the outlook for children with cancer. Dr. Todd Druley, Professor of Medicine at Washington University, discusses how next-generation sequencing is reshaping our understanding of childhood cancer risk and biology.

The critically endangered Saimaa ringed seal is found only in Lake Saimaa, in Finland. Their isolation makes them an excellent model system for studying population and genetic bottlenecks. Dr. Petri Auvinen is a Research Director at the University of Helsinki in Finland. He discusses the Saimaa ringed seal genome project and its impact on saving this animal species from extinction.

To enable precision medicine in cancer, health care providers need a solid understanding of genetic information. Drs. Obi and Malachi Griffith are Professors of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. They discuss their work in improving bioinformatics education and improving clinical interpretations of sequence variants in cancer.

Personalized medicine involves using a patient's genomic information to better predict disease risk, prognosis, and treatment response. Current genomics-based diagnostic platforms typically use DNA. Dr. Dave Messina is Chief Operations Officer at Cofactor Genomics in St. Louis, MO. He discusses the benefits and the challenges in using RNA sequencing as a diagnostics platform.