Biomedical subjects

Dylan Lawless

Publications and source records attributed to Dylan Lawless.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

PanelAppRex aggregates disease gene panels and facilitates sophisticated search.

MOTIVATION: Gene panel data are essential for variant interpretation and genomic diagnostics, but existing resources are fragmented, inconsistently annotated, and not easily accessible for programmatic use. We developed PanelAppRex, a harmonised dataset and interactive search tool that integrates over 58 000 curated gene-disease panel associations. It supports natural language-style queries by gene, phenotype, disease group, and mode of inheritance, with results returned in machine-readable export formats. RESULTS: The resulting dataset includes standardised gene identifiers, disease annotations, mode of inheritance, and literature support, enabling seamless integration into bioinformatic pipelines. We benchmarked 15 case studies spanning immunology, neurology, and additional disease areas. Under the recommended usage, in which the union of returned panels is considered, the causal gene was recovered in every case. Across all returned panels, the causal gene was present in 85.6% of panels. For manual interface interpretation, the causal gene was present in the user-selected best-fit panel(s) in all 15 benchmarked cases. AVAILABILITY: The platform data is openly available at Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15736689, with source code at https://github.com/DylanLawless/PanelAppRex, and demonstration page at https://panelapprex.github.io/landing_page. The dataset is maintained for a minimum of two years following publication.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2026

Application of qualifying variants for genomic analysis.

MOTIVATION: Qualifying variants (QVs) are genomic alterations selected by defined criteria within analysis pipelines. Although crucial for both research and clinical diagnostics, QVs are often seen as simple filters rather than dynamic elements that influence the entire workflow. In practice these rules are embedded within pipelines, which hinders transparency, audit, and reuse across tools. A unified, portable specification for QV criteria is needed. RESULTS: Our aim is to embed the concept of a "QV" into the genomic analysis vernacular, moving beyond its treatment as a single filtering step. By decoupling QV criteria from pipeline variables and code, the framework enables clearer discussion, application, and reuse. It provides a flexible reference model for integrating QVs into analysis pipelines, improving reproducibility, interpretability, and interdisciplinary communication. Validation across diverse applications confirmed that QV based workflows match conventional methods while offering greater clarity and scalability. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code and data are accessible at the Zenodo repository https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17414191. Manuscript files are available at https://github.com/DylanLawless/qvApp2025lawless. The QV framework is available under the MIT licence, and the dataset will be maintained for at least two years following publication.

Genomics↗

PubMed2025

Genome-to-genome analysis reveals associations between human and mycobacterial genetic variation in tuberculosis patients from Tanzania.

The risk and prognosis of tuberculosis (TB) are influenced by a complex interplay between human and bacterial genetic factors. While previous genomic studies have largely examined human and bacterial genomes separately, we adopted an integrated approach to uncover host-pathogen interactions. We leveraged paired human and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) genomic data from 1000 adult TB patients from Tanzania and used a "genome-to-genome" approach to search for associations between human and M.tb genetic variants and to identify interacting genetic loci. Our analyses revealed two significant host-pathogen genetic associations. The first significant association (p = 4.7e-11) links a human intronic variant in PRDM15 (rs12151990), a gene involved in apoptosis regulation, with an M.tb variant in Rv2348c (I101M), which encodes a T cell-stimulating antigen. The second significant association (p = 6.3e-11) connects a human intergenic variant near TIMM21 and FBXO15 (rs75769176) - also associated with TB severity (p = 0.04) - with an M.tb variant in FixA (T67M). While FBXO15 is involved in the regulation of antigen processing and TIMM21 affects mitochondrial function, FixA's role remains undefined due to limited functional characterization. Additionally, we observed that a group of M.tb T cell epitope variants were significantly associated with HLA-DRB1 variation, suggesting that, despite their rarity, certain epitopes may still be subjected to immune selective pressure. Together, these findings identify previously unknown sites of genomic conflicts between humans and M.tb, advancing our understanding of how this pathogen evades selection pressure and persist in human populations.

Humans↗