Deciphering Developmental Disorders (tool)

RRID:SCR_006171

The Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study aims to find out if using new genetic technologies can help doctors understand why patients get developmental disorders. To do this we have brought together doctors in the 23 NHS Regional Genetics Services throughout the UK and scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a charitably funded research institute which played a world-leading role in sequencing (reading) the human genome. The DDD study involves experts in clinical, molecular and statistical genetics, as well as ethics and social science. It has a Scientific Advisory Board consisting of scientists, doctors, a lawyer and patient representative, and has received National ethical approval in the UK. Over the next few years, we are aiming to collect DNA and clinical information from 12,000 undiagnosed children in the UK with developmental disorders and their parents. The results of the DDD study will provide a unique, online catalogue of genetic changes linked to clinical features that will enable clinicians to diagnose developmental disorders. Furthermore, the study will enable the design of more efficient and cheaper diagnostic assays for relevant genetic testing to be offered to all such patients in the UK and so transform clinical practice for children with developmental disorders. Over time, the work will also improve understanding of how genetic changes cause developmental disorders and why the severity of the disease varies in individuals. The Sanger Institute will contribute to the DDD study by performing genetic analysis of DNA samples from patients with developmental disorders, and their parents, recruited into the study through the Regional Genetics Services. Using microarray technology and the latest DNA sequencing methods, research teams will probe genetic information to identify mutations (DNA errors or rearrangements) and establish if these mutations play a role in the developmental disorders observed in patients. The DDD initiative grew out of the groundbreaking DECIPHER database, a global partnership of clinical genetics centres set up in 2004, which allows researchers and clinicians to share clinical and genomic data from patients worldwide. The DDD study aims to transform the power of DECIPHER as a diagnostic tool for use by clinicians. As well as improving patient care, the DDD team will empower researchers in the field by making the data generated securely available to other research teams around the world. By assembling a solid resource of high-quality, high-resolution and consistent genomic data, the leaders of the DDD study hope to extend the reach of DECIPHER across a broader spectrum of disorders than is currently possible.