What are the differences between exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing?
Posted December 5, 2022
Answer
Exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) are two next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques that are widely used in healthcare to study genetic anomalies. There are several differences between these two processes.
Basis of differentiation | Exome sequencing (WES) | Whole genome sequencing (WGS) |
Definition | Is the process of sequencing coding DNA (exomes) of an organism | Is the process of sequencing the whole genome of an organism including all coding and noncoding regions |
Percentage of genome sequenced | Sequences coding genomes which maek up only 1-2% of hte whole genome | Sequences all coding, noncoding, and mitochondrial genomes, which make up 98 – 99% of the whole genome |
Area of study | Used to determine genetic variations in coding regions | Used to study genetic rearrangements and anomalies in coding and noncoding regeions |
Size of sequence database generated | Sequence database generated is comparatively smaller than WGS | Sequence database generated is very large and sometimes incomprehensible |
Time taken | Is less time-comsuming than WGS | Is a time-consuming process |
Cost | Cheaper | More expensive |
Advantages |
|
|
Disadvantages | Unable to identify anomalies in noncoding sequences |
|
Additional resources