Sequence ME & Long Covid: The Search for ME/CFS and Long Covid Biomarkers and Subtypes

The DecodeME Project is the largest genetic study of ME/CFS conducted to date and has identified eight genetic signals where people with ME/CFS tend to differ from those without, linked to the immune and nervous systems. These landmark findings reflect the lived experience of thousands of people with ME/CFS, providing validation and exciting new avenues for research.

In earlier work, the DecodeME team analyzed the genomes of 15,500 people with ME/CFS, finding critical genomic spots where variation significantly influences disease risk. Now, with support from a Solve ME/CFS Catalyst Award, the team will set up this ambitious project, allowing them later to read these genomes in even more detail.

While the earlier DecodeME study used technology that examined only a million genomic spots per participant, the wider project will leverage Oxford Nanopore Technology’s new whole genome sequencing method to examine all three billion spots across the genome for most participants (9,000 of the original 15,500 participants).

In this free educational webinar, host Dr. Jessica Maya (Solve Vice President of Scientific Programs) will talk to the DecodeME management team and recent Catalyst Award honorees Prof. Chris Ponting (Chair of Medical Bioinformatics, University of Edinburgh), Sonya Chowdhury (Chief Executive, Action For ME) and Andy Devereux-Cooke (Patient Representative and Co-Investigator at DecodeME Study) about how their study could reveal many more genes, gene-regulation elements, and biological pathways that affect ME/CFS risk, advance efforts to identify new biomarkers for disease subtypes, and ultimately lead to new treatments.

Register for the event here.