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Genetic sex validation for sample tracking in next-generation sequencing clinical testing

Abstract

Objective

Data from DNA genotyping via a 96-SNP panel in a study of 25,015 clinical samples were utilized for quality control and tracking of sample identity in a clinical sequencing network. The study aimed to demonstrate the value of both the precise SNP tracking and the utility of the panel for predicting the sex-by-genotype of the participants, to identify possible sample mix-ups.

Results

Precise SNP tracking showed no sample swap errors within the clinical testing laboratories. In contrast, when comparing predicted sex-by-genotype to the provided sex on the test requisition, we identified 110 inconsistencies from 25,015 clinical samples (0.44%), that had occurred during sample collection or accessioning. The genetic sex predictions were confirmed using additional SNP sites in the sequencing data or high-density genotyping arrays. It was determined that discrepancies resulted from clerical errors (49.09%), samples from transgender participants (3.64%) and stem cell or bone marrow transplant patients (7.27%) along with undetermined sample mix-ups (40%) for which sample swaps occurred prior to arrival at genome centers, however the exact cause of the events at the sampling sites resulting in the mix-ups were not able to be determined.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The implementation of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies in clinical laboratories [1,2,3,4] typically involves three phases: (i) the pre-analytic phase including sample collection, DNA extraction and shipment; (ii) the analytic phase of NGS library preparation, DNA sequencing, bioinformatics analysis; and (iii) a post-analytic phase including clinical report generation and delivery. Each phase is inherently subject to sample tracking and identification errors, with prior reports of more than 46% of errors occurring during the pre-analytical phase, caused by inappropriate test requests, order entry errors, patient misidentification, and labelling errors [5]. Validation and tracking of sample identity therefore is a basic and important aspect of effective clinical NGS testing.

DNA-based methods for sample tracking include genotyping of short tandem repeats (STRs) or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) [6,7,8]. STRs are generally located in non-coding regions, prone to high sequencing error rates, and often require longer than typical sequencing read lengths to precisely define the number of repeats, limiting their application. In contrast, SNPs are ubiquitous in the genome and simple to assay [9,10,11]. In this study, a 96-SNP panel was used to track samples through the clinical NGS workflow in the National Institute of Health’s Electronic Medical Records and Genomics Phase III (eMERGE) program [12]. The network linked together 11 sample collection sites and 2 clinical genetic testing laboratories, the Human Genome Sequencing Center Clinical Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM-HGSC-CL) and the Mass General Brigham Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM) in partnership with the Clinical Research Sequencing Platform (CRSP) at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. A total of 25,015 clinical DNA samples were processed. The 96-SNP panel-based procedure provided a robust method for sample tracking in the clinical NGS workflow and showed that the testing of sex can provide a valuable quality control tool.

Methods

Fluidigm SNP genotyping assay

Two clinical laboratories harmonized methods for the program [12] and utilized a 96-SNP panel but incorporated different selected SNPs to track samples and determine ancestry. Each 96-SNP panel contained one subset of SNPs on the sex-chromosomes. The autosome SNPs are within the target region of the capture design used in the eMERGE program (Additional files 1, 2) [12]. Assays were performed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

The BCM-HGSC-CL’s 96-SNP panel replaced 19 of the original Fluidigm SNPtrace 96 sites to match genomic regions specifically targeted in eMERGE III. The remaining sites included 3 SNPs on Chromosome X and 3 on Chromosome Y [13, 14]. At the Broad Institute, the chosen SNPs included 95 autosomal SNPs and 1 sex determining assay locus, covering the AMELX and AMELY gene (AMG_3B) with a sex-specific 6 base-pair insertion/deletion.

Illumina Infinium HumanCoreExome SNP array assays and NGS

The HumanCoreExome v1-3 BeadChips contain 500K variant sites, including more than 12,900 located on the X chromosome, that are informative for genetic sex prediction. Infinium SNP array assay were performed with 200 ng genomic DNA according to manufacturer’s instructions. DNA sequencing for the eMERGE phase III program has been described previously [12].

Results

As a first step towards assessing sample swaps during the analytic phase in NGS testing, we tested the concordance between data generated from the 96-SNP panel genotyping and the DNA sequence data at each of the two Genome Characterization Centers. The BCM-HGSC-CL and LMM/Broad laboratories utilized the same analytical platform foundation, employing slightly different SNP sites for the assays, but generally similar workflows (Fig. 1). The average SNP call rates were 97.3% and 97.5% for the 25,015 samples processed at the BCM-HGSC-CL and the LMM/Broad, respectively. No sample swaps were identified during the analytic NGS testing phase. Next, we compared the 96-SNP panel genotype-based sex to reported sex at the time of sample accessioning, where a total of 110 (0.44%) non-concordant cases from two testing laboratories were identified. The two testing laboratories utilized slightly different workflows to technically validate the sex discrepancies.

Fig. 1
figure 1

eMERGE sample processing workflow. Steps indicating where aliquots of DNA are taken from samples that are presented to the Clinical DNA Sequencing Laboratory for accession, to test via the Fluidigm 96-SNP panel assay. Data from the Fluidigm 96-SNP panel assay are compared with DNA sequence data from the DNA sequencing pipeline as a quality control step, ahead of the Automated Clinical Reporting step

At the BCM-HGSC-CL, of the 14,515 samples processed, 73 samples with sex discrepancies were re-tested with the same 96-SNP panel. Identical results were obtained for 70 of the re-tested samples (Table 1). For the remaining 3 cases, where the sex provided on test requisition was male, non-concordant or ambiguous data were observed between the initial and the repeated assays. For two of these samples, the automated software calls from one of each duplicate assays indicated that the DNA source was from individuals with Klinefelter Syndrome (47, XXY). However, further review of the SNP scatter plots for autosome and sex SNPs indicated that the inconsistent sex calls most likely resulted from sample contamination involving a mixture of male and female DNAs (Fig. 2). The third sample was called as female with lower confidence initially. In the repeated assay, one of the X SNPs failed to call due to localization in between clusters in plot analysis. This is most likely due to the female sample mixed up with some DNA sample from another female.

Table 1 Comparison of genetic sex determined in various assays and reported sex on test requisition
Fig. 2
figure 2

Scatter plot analysis of 96-SNP panel reveals sample contamination. Scatter plot analysis from vendor software, showing a normal DNA male sample (A) or a contaminated sample containing a mixture of male and female DNAs (B). Panels 1–3 SNPs on X chromosome; panels 4–6 SNPs on Y chromosome; panels 7–9 autosomal SNPs. Each panel shows the data from a single SNP, as compared to clusters from all other SNPs. Clusters are shown as either homozygous (red or green), or heterozygous (blue) positions. In panels B2, 3, 7–9 single SNPS are represented as outside the expected (arrows) resulting in erroneous or ‘no-call’ from the software

Next, Illumina HumanCore Exome Arrays were utilized as an orthogonal high-density hybridization genotyping assay to further test 71 of the 73 samples with sex inconsistencies except two samples which had insufficient genomic DNA (Table 1). HumanCore Exome Array results confirmed 96-SNP panel genotyping sex data, including the suspected two contaminated female samples with additional male or other female DNA.

At the Broad/LMM, the reported sex from the test requisition was compared with the genetic sex determined by both the Fludigm genotyping assay and the data from the eMERGE III sequencing panel. Of the 10,500 samples processed, 151 were initially either identified as discordant or had no sex determination. For 95 samples, the Fluidigm assay data could not return a sex determination, however the sequencing sex matched the reported sex for each and no further action was taken. For 19 of the remaining 56 samples, the sequencing and reported sex were concordant, but did not match the genotyping determined sex. Further review of these 19 samples showed that the genotyping assay calls were generally borderline or low confidence calls, suggesting sub-optimal performance of the single sex determining SNP as the reason for the data discrepancy, rather than either a sex reporting error at accession or sample mix-up in the testing laboratory. The remaining 37 samples had highly confident sex determination calls from both the SNP assay and the subsequent DNA sequencing that were concordant, but did not match the site reported sex (Table 1).

Internal tracking showed that none of the 110 confidently identified sex discrepant samples occur within the clinical DNA sequencing laboratories and that most errors were likely introduced prior to shipment of samples. Sampling sites identified handling errors from test requisitions, sample extraction, and sample handling procedures for 54 cases. Forty-six of these had information that was incorrectly or incompletely entered on the test requisitions and were resolved by examination of other records. In 6 other cases, it was determined that incorrect samples had been shipped from the sampling sites to the genome centers. Biological explanations for the discrepant tracking data were identified for an additional 12 cases. In 4 of these 12 cases, further examination of records revealed that the samples were provided by transgender participants. In addition, 8 sex discrepant samples were determined to be from individuals who had received stem cell or bone marrow transplants. Causes of the sample genetic vs. reported sex discrepancy are listed in Table 2.

Table 2 Causes of sample sex discrepancy

Where possible, the information on test requisition forms was amended and correct clinical reports were issued for 45 cases processed at the BCM-HGSC-CL, or the incorrect samples were replaced and re-processed. Twelve cases sequenced at the BCM-HGSC-CL with sample mix-ups due to unknown causes were withdrawn from the study. Similarly, 32 unsolved cases sequenced at LMM/Broad were either withdrawn or remained under investigation.

Discussion

To identify sample swaps during the processing of 25,015 clinical samples in the NIH eMERGE III program, two clinical DNA sequencing laboratories first utilized a Fluidigm-based 96-SNP panel assay to track internal processes. These analyses indicated no sample swaps had occurred in the time interval between sample arrival at the testing laboratories and the delivery of the final DNA sequencing data. In contrast, when the test was expanded to predict the concordance between the self-reported sex of participants at the time of their initial enrollment, with a predicted sex-by-genotype, there were 110 discordant samples. A battery of follow-up tests indicated that these likely arose before the materials were received at the clinical DNA sequencing laboratories. The bases of the sample tracking errors at sample collection sites were determined in 66 of the 110 cases (60%), while leaving the remaining 44 cases unsolved and under investigation. Of these 66 resolved cases, the largest source for the initial discordance occurring in 54 cases (81%) arose from clerical or shipping errors. The remaining 12 cases (18% of the 66 solved) had biological underpinnings that explained the discordant results, as 8 were due to stem cell/bone marrow transplants while 4 were from transgender individuals. Future sample collecting procedures could be modified by including more informative test requisition options to ensure that participants are invited to note these types of events at the time of collection, so that this information is available for quality control.

The 96-SNP panel has proven value for precise sample tracking [15]. In general, 20 informative SNP loci are sufficient for unique individual sample identification [16, 17]. Other SNP panels have been used for identification of human samples [9, 18, 19]. A low-density QC genotyping array launched by Illumina which includes 15,949 markers has been utilized in genomic-based clinical diagnostics [20]. Our studies showed that these two different SNP platforms exhibited consistent results when applied for sex identification. In comparison to the use of the Illumina Infinium array platform, the workflow for the 96-SNP panel assay is faster (1-day workflow vs 3-day workflow) and more cost-effective (chip price for SNPtrace is about 15% of HumanCoreExome Array per sample). However, the Illumina Infinium array platform provides more information on linkage analysis, HLA haplotyping, ethnicity determination and other genetic information in addition to fingerprinting and thus may be preferred in some scenarios. It may also take into account the sex prediction accuracy of the two methods, the error rate, albeit low, as well as the cost of re-testing that may be necessary in some cases due to low data quality. Other commercial systems are also available to substitute for the platforms described here if they provide cost-effective and precise data with similar qualities.

This level of tracking error is unacceptable for ongoing clinical practice, but the study does not represent the levels that will be expected in further clinical programs. At least one laboratory declared their initial sample enrollments as ‘research samples’ and thus committed to later repeat assays under a fully compliant protocol, to verify any findings that may impact care. Others were able to quickly identify points of error and rectify their protocols to ensure faithful future sample handling. All sites committed to rechecking of records and reconciling actionable findings with orthogonal data, including family histories and biochemical tests, before returning results. The ‘lessons learned’ from these analyses ensure that a repeat of the same program would likely minimize any similar errors.

Limitations

While false positive rates are low for this application of SNP trace, false negative rates will be high. Here, the overall level of genetic and reported sex discordance of 0.44% is likely an underestimate of the true error rate in this study, as the misclassification of genetic sex from a random sample swap would be expected to result in incorrect, erroneous assignment, only 50% of the time. The true ratio may be skewed by factors introducing a sex-bias in the direction of misclassification. This could be caused by skewed phenotypes of individuals with sex chromosome anomalies or that gender obfuscation may be socially driven in an unequal manner, depending on the gender identity of the individual. Overall, the rate is likely higher than the 0.44% identified here, but not anticipated to be higher than twice that level.

Availability of data and materials

Data are available in dbGaP for controlled public access (phs001616.v1.p1).

Abbreviations

HGSC:

Human Genome Sequencing Center

LMM:

Laboratory for Molecular Medicine

NGS:

Next-generation DNA sequencing

STR:

Short tandem repeat

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

eMERGE:

Electronic Medical Records and Genomics

EMR:

Electronic medical record

HGSC-CL:

Human Genome Sequencing Center Clinical Laboratory

BCM:

Baylor College of Medicine

CRSP:

Clinical Research Sequencing Platform

NHGRI:

National Human Genome Research Institute

IRB:

Institutional review board

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Acknowledgements

We thank all eMERGE Phase III Network participants for their engagement in this research effort.

EMERGE CONSORTIUM: Debra J. Abrams9, Samuel E. Adunyah14, Ladia H. Albertson-Junkans15, Berta Almoguera9, Paul S. Appelbaum16,17, Samuel Aronson3, Sharon Aufox7, Lawrence J. Babb5, Adithya Balasubramanian1, Hana Bangash18, Melissa A. Basford19, Meckenzie Behr9, Barbara Benoit20, Elizabeth J. Bhoj9, Sarah T. Bland11, Eric Boerwinkle1,12, Kenneth M. Borthwick21, Erwin P Bottinger22,23, Deborah J. Bowen24, Mark Bowser3, Murray Brilliant25, Adam H. Buchanan10, Andrew Cagan26, Pedro J. Caraballo27, David J. Carey28, David S. Carrell15, Victor M. Castro26, Gauthami Chandanavelli1, Rex L. Chisholm7, Wendy Chung29, Christopher G. Chute30, Brittany B. City19, Ellen Wright Clayton19,31, Beth L. Cobb32, John J. Connolly9, Paul K. Crane33, Katherine D. Crew34, David R. Crosslin35, Renata P. da Silva9, Jyoti G. Dayal6, Mariza De Andrade36, Josh C. Denny37, Ozan Dikilitas18, Alanna J. DiVietro19, Kevin R. Dufendach38,96, Todd L. Edwards19,39, Christine Eng2, David Fasel40, Alex Fedotov41, Stephanie M. Fullerton93, Birgit Funke42, Stacey Gabriel5, Vivian S. Gainer26, Ali Gharavi40, Richard A. Gibbs1, Joe T. Glessner9,43, Jessica M. Goehringer10, Adam Gordon7, Adam S. Gordon7, Chet Graham3, Heather S. Hain9, Hakon Hakonarson9,43, Maegan V. Harden5, John Harley44,94, Margaret Harr9, Steven M. Harrison3,5, Andrea L. Hartzler35, Scott Hebbring25, Jacklyn N. Hellwege19,45, Nora B. Henrikson15,46, Christin Hoell7, Ingrid Holm47, George Hripcsak48, Alexander L. Hsieh48, Jianhong Hu1, Elizabeth D. Hynes3, Gail P. Jarvik8, Darren K. Johnson10, Laney K. Jones10, Yoonjung Y. Joo49, Sheethal Jose6, Navya Shilpa Josyula50, Anne E. Justice50, Elizabeth W. Karlson51, Kenneth M. Kaufman32,52, Jacob M. Keaton19,53, Melissa A. Kelly10, Eimear E. Kenny54,55, Dustin L. Key15, Atlas Khan56, H. Lester Kirchner50, Krzysztof Kiryluk40, Terrie Kitchner25, Barbara J. Klanderman3, David C. Kochan18, Viktoriya Korchina1, Christie Kovar1, Emily Kudalkar3, Benjamin R. Kuhn57, Iftikhar J. Kullo18, Philip Lammers14,58, Eric B. Larson15,59, Matthew S. Lebo3,60, Ming Ta Michael Lee10, Niall Lennon5, Kathleen A. Leppig15,61, Chiao-Feng Lin3, Jodell E. Linder19, Noralane M. Lindor62, Todd Lingren63,64, Cong Liu48, Yuan Luo65, John Lynch66, Alyssa Macbeth5, Lisa Mahanta3, Bradley A. Malin19, Brandy M. Mapes19, Maddalena Marasa56, Keith Marsolo67, Elizabeth McNally7, Frank D. Mentch9, Erin M. Miller64,68, Hila Milo Rasouly56, David Murdock1,2, Shawn N. Murphy69, Mullai Murugan1, Donna M. Muzny1, Melanie F. Myers64,70, Bahram Namjou71, Addie I. Nesbitt9, Jordan Nestor56, Yizhao Ni63,64, Janet E. Olson62, Aniwaa Owusu Obeng72,73, Jennifer A. Pacheco7, Joel E. Pacyna74, Divya Pasham1, Thomas N. Person10, Josh F. Peterson19, Lynn Petukhova75,95, Cassandra Pisieczko10, Siddharth Pratap14, Cynthia Prows13, Megan J. Puckelwartz7, Alanna K. Rahm10, James D. Ralston15,61, Arvind Ramaprasan15, Luke V. Rasmussen65, Laura J. Rasmussen-Torvik7,65, Heidi L. Rehm3,5, Dan M. Roden76, Elisabeth A. Rosenthal77, Robb K. Rowley6, Maya S. Safarova18, Avni Santani9,78, Juliann M. Savatt10, Daniel J. Schaid62, Steven Scherer1, Baergen I. Schultz6, Aaron Scrol15, Soumitra Sengupta48, Gabriel Q. Shaibi79, Ning Shang48, Himanshu Sharma3, Richard R. Sharp74, Yufeng Shen48, Rajbir Singh14, Patrick Sleiman9, Maureen E. Smith7, Jordan W. Smoller80, Duane T. Smoot14, Ian B. Stanaway35, Justin Starren65, Timoethia M. Stone19, Amy C. Sturm10, Agnes S. Sundaresan81, Peter Tarczy-Hornoch35,82, Casey Overby Taylor10,83, Lifeng Tian9, Sara L. Van Driest84, Matthew Varugheese3, Lyam Vazquez9, David L. Veenstra85,86, Digna R. Velez Edwards11,87, Eric Venner1, Miguel Verbitsky88, Kimberly Walker1, Nephi Walton10, Theresa Walunas49,89, Firas H. Wehbe65, Wei-Qi Wei11,19, Scott T. Weiss90,91, Quinn S. Wells92, Chunhua Weng48, Ken L. Wiley Jr.6, Marc S. Williams10, Janet Williams10, Leora Witkowski3,42, Laura Allison B. Woods19, Julia Wynn29, Lan Zhang1, Yanfei Zhang10, Hana Zouk3,4, Jodell Jackson97**

14Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN; 15Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle, WA; 16Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY; 17NY State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY; 18Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 19Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 20Research IS and Computing, Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM), Mass General Brigham, Cambridge, MA; 21Hood Center for Health Research, Geisinger, Danville PA; 22Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; 23Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine; 24Department of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 25Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, WI; 26Research IS and Computing, Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM), Mass General Brigham, Cambridge, MA; 27Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 28Molecular and Functional Genomics, Geisinger, Danville PA; 29Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY; 30Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; 31Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; 32Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; 33Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 34Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY; 35Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 36Department of Health Science Research, Division of BioStatistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 37All of Us Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD; 38Divions of Neonatology and Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; 39Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 40Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY; 41Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University, New York, NY; 42Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 43Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; 44Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio; 45Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Genetics Institute; 46Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington; 47Division of Genetics and Genomics and the Manton Center for Orphan Diseases Research, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 48Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY; 49Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; 50Population Health Sciences, Geisinger, Danville, PA; 51Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA; 52Cincinnati Veterans affairs; 53Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 54Institute for Genomic Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; 55Departments of Medicine and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; 56Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; 57Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, Geisinger, Danville, PA; 58Baptist Cancer Center, Memphis, TN; 59Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 60Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 61University of Washington Biomedical and Health Informatics, Seattle, WA; 62Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 63Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; 64College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; 65Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; 66University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; 67Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC; 68Division of Cardiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; 69Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; 70Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio; 71Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), Cincinnati, Ohio; 72The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; 73Departments of Pharmacy, Medicine and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; 74Biomedical Ethics Research Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; 75Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; 76Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 77Division of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 78Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA; 79Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ; 80Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; 81Population Health Sciences, Geisinger, Danville, PA; 82Department of Pediatrics (Neonatology), University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 83Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; 84Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 85Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 86The Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy & Economics (CHOICE) Institute, Seattle, WA; 87Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 88Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY; 89Center for Health Information Partnerships, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; 90Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 91Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 92Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN; 93Department of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 94Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology (CAGE), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; 95Department of Dermatology, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; 96Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH; 97Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. **eMERGE Consortium representative.

Funding

The eMERGE Phase III Network was initiated and funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) through the following grants: U01HG8657 (Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute/University of Washington), U01HG8685 (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), U01HG8672 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center), U01HG8666 (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center), U01HG6379 (Mayo Clinic), U01HG8679 (Geisinger Clinic), U01HG8680 (Columbia University Health Sciences), U01HG8684 (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), U01HG8673 (Northwestern University), MD007593 (Meharry Medical College), U01HG8701 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center serving as the Coordinating Center), U01HG8676 (Partners HealthCare/Broad Institute), and U01HG8664 (Baylor College of Medicine).

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JH, HLR, RAG, DMM contributed to the study concept and design; JH, VK, HZ, MVH, CK, MES annotated and compiled information regarding sample accessioning; HZ, MVH, DM, EV performed NGS data analysis; NL, MES, GJ, HLR, RAG, DMM provided funding support for the project; Investigation: JH, VK, HZ, MVH, AM, SMH, CK, MES, AG, PS, MK, HB, LM, HLR, RAG, DMM conducted the research and investigation process of sample verification; AB, LZ, GC, DP performed the 96-SNP panel and Illumina array genotyping assay; VK, CK, RR, KW, MM participated in the project administration; MES, AG, GJ, PS, MK, HB, CP provided eMERGE sample collections; JH, MM, EV, HLR, RAG, DMM supervised the studies; JH, HZ, MVH, HLR, RAG, DMM were the major contributors in original draft writing; JH, HZ, MVH, DM, AM, SMH, NL, RR, KW, AG, GJ, PS, MK, HB, MM, EV, EB, CP, LM, HLR, RAG, DMM participated in manuscript revision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donna M. Muzny.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network is a National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)-funded consortium tasked with developing methods and best practices for utilization of electronic medical record (EMR) as a tool for genomic research. All 11 sample collection sites consented participants under institutional review board (IRB)-approved protocols and the two sequencing centers had IRB-approved protocols that deferred consent to the participating sites. The protocol number for Baylor College of Medicine was (#H-40455).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

JH, DM, MM, RAG, DMM disclose that the Baylor Genetics Laboratory is co-owned by Baylor College of Medicine. EV is cofounder of Codified Genomics, which provides variant interpretation services. DM has received consulting fees from Illumina. The remaining authors disclose they have no competing interests.

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Supplementary Information

Additional file 1: Table S1.

96-SNP panel design—BCM-HGSC-CL.

Additional file 2: Table S2.

List of 96 SNPs in LMM/broad (CRSP) PCR panel design.

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Hu, J., Korchina, V., Zouk, H. et al. Genetic sex validation for sample tracking in next-generation sequencing clinical testing. BMC Res Notes 17, 62 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-024-06723-w

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