Certificate of Achievement
has completed the following course:
Whole Genome Sequencing: Decoding the Language of Life and Health
This online course introduced the fundamentals of the genome and genetic variation and their connections with health and disease. The course explored the process of whole genome sequencing and the ways in which the resultant data are analysed and how they may be used to benefit patients. Additionally, the course introduced the current limitations and the future potential of this new technology, along with the ethical questions that arise when we can ‘read a person’s genome’.
3 weeks, 3 hours per week
Dr Anneke Seller
Associate Scientific Director, Genomics Education Programme
NHS England
Transcript
Learning outcomes
- Describe the fundamentals of genomics: what is DNA, what is a genome and how do they influence our health?
- Describe how whole genome sequencing works: its principles, processes, limitations and possibilities.
- Describe a range of concrete cases and scenarios where whole genome sequencing is having a profound impact on healthcare.
- Engage in the debate surrounding the future of whole genome sequencing.
- Describe the scope of the UK government’s 100,000 Genomes Project and its potential impact on how we understand and care for patients with rare diseases, cancer and infectious diseases.
Syllabus
- The composition, structure and function of a genome.
- The process and the importance of DNA replication.
- Genomic variation and its connections with health and disease.
- The evolution of genome sequencing.
- The advent and the possibilities of next generation sequencing.
- The preparation and processing of DNA samples in whole genome sequencing.
- The interpretation of genomic information for clinicians and patients.
- The limitations and challenges faced by current sequencing technologies.
- Additional, incidental and secondary findings from whole genome sequencing.
- The ownership, storing and sharing of genomic data.
- The impact of whole genome sequencing on healthcare in the future.
Issued on 1st April 2020
The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.
This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.