Application and research of genomic optical mapping technology in disease diagnosis

In the continuous progression of genomic research, an increasing number of investigations have revealed that structural variations (SVs) hold a vital role in human evolution and the pathogenesis of diseases. Consequently, SVs have attracted extensive attention within the realm of clinical research.In recent years, optical genome mapping (OGM), which represents a high-resolution, ultra-long-read, automated, non-sequencing genomic detection technique, has exhibited remarkable advantages in the exploration of structural variations. When compared with karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA), and high-throughput sequencing technologies, OGM is capable of detecting structural and numerical aberrations throughout the entire genome in a single assay. These encompass aneuploidy, insertions, deletions, duplications, inversions, balanced translocations, and complex structural variations. With a detection resolution reaching as high as 500 bp, OGM is alternatively designated as the next-generation cytogenetic technology due to its high-resolution and long-fragment analysis capabilities. This endows it with substantial practical value in the detection of genomic structural variations. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the application of OGM methods in the detection of disease-related SVs, with the intention of providing valuable references and profound insights for SVs research, especially in the domain of disease diagnosis.