NeuroBooster Array: A Genome-Wide Genotyping Platform to Study Neurological Disorders Across Diverse Populations

Background:Commercial genome-widegenotyping arrays have historically neglected coverageof genetic variation across populations. Objective:We aimed to create a multi-ancestry genome-wide array that would include a wide range of neuro-specific genetic content to facilitate genetic research inneurological disorders across multiple ancestral groups,fostering diversity and inclusivity in research studies. Methods:We developed the Illumina NeuroBoosterArray (NBA), a custom high-throughput and cost-effective platform on a backbone of 1,914,934 variantsfrom the Infinium Global Diversity Array and added cus-tom content comprising 95,273 variants associated withmore than 70 neurological conditions or traits, and wefurther tested its performance on more than 2000 patientsamples. This novel platform includes approximately10,000 tagging variants to facilitate imputation and ana-lyses of neurodegenerative disease-related genome-wide association study loci across diverse populations. Results:In this article, we describe NBA's potential asan efficient means for researchers to assess known andnovel disease genetic associations in a multi-ancestryframework. The NBA can identify rare genetic variantsand accurately impute more than 15 million common var-iants across populations. Apart from enabling sample pri-oritization for further whole-genome sequencing studies,we envisage that NBA will play a pivotal role in recruit-ment for interventional studies in the precision medicinespace. Conclusions:From a broader perspective, the NBAserves as a promising means to foster collaborativeresearch endeavors in thefield of neurological disor-ders worldwide. Ultimately, this carefully designed toolis poised to make a substantial contribution touncovering the genetic etiology underlying these debili-tating conditions. (c) 2024 The Author(s).MovementDisorderspublished by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalfof International Parkinson and Movement DisorderSociety. This article has been contributed to by U.S.Government employees and their work is in the publicdomain in the USA.