Next-generation sequencing in the genetics of human atrial fibrillation

Abstract

The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium published the first draft of the human genome in the journal Nature in February 2001, providing the sequence of the entire genome's three billion base pairs. The Human Genome Project involves a concerted effort to better understand the human DNA sequence through identification of all the genes. The knowledge that can be derived from the genome could result in the development of novel diagnostic assays, targeted therapies and the improved ability to predict the onset, severity and progression of diseases. This has been made possible by many parallelized, high-throughput technologies such as next-generation sequencing. In this review, we discuss the possible application of next-generation sequencing in finding the susceptibility gene(s) or diseasemechanism of an important human arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation.