Inversions play an important role in disease and evolution but are difficult to characterize because their breakpoints map to large repeats. We increased by sixfold the number (n = 1,069) of previously reported great ape inversions by using single-cell DNA template strand and long-read sequencing. We find that the X chromosome is most enriched (2.5-fold) for inversions, on the basis of its size and duplication content. There is an excess of differentially expressed primate genes near the breakpoints of large (>100 kilobases (kb)) inversions but not smaller events. We show that when great ape lineage-specific duplications emerge, they preferentially (approximately 75%) occur in an inverted orientation compared to that at their ancestral locus. We construct megabase-pair scale haplotypes for individual chromosomes and identify 23 genomic regions that have recurrently toggled between a direct and an inverted state over 15 million years. The direct orientation is most frequently the derived state for human polymorphisms that predispose to recurrent copy number variants associated with neurodevelopmental disease.

Segmental duplications contribute to human evolution, adaptation and genomic instability but are often poorly characterized. We investigate the evolution, genetic variation and coding potential of human-specific segmental duplications (HSDs). We identify 218 HSDs based on analysis of 322 deeply sequenced archaic and contemporary hominid genomes. We sequence 550 human and nonhuman primate genomic clones to reconstruct the evolution of the largest, most complex regions with protein-coding potential (N = 80 genes from 33 gene families). We show that HSDs are non-randomly organized, associate preferentially with ancestral ape duplications termed 'core duplicons' and evolved primarily in an interspersed inverted orientation. In addition to Homo sapiens-specific gene expansions (such as TCAF1/TCAF2), we highlight ten gene families (for example, ARHGAP11B and SRGAP2C) where copy number never returns to the ancestral state, there is evidence of mRNA splicing and no common gene-disruptive mutations are observed in the general population. Such duplicates are candidates for the evolution of human-specific adaptive traits.

Segmental duplications contribute to human evolution, adaptation and genomic instability but are often poorly characterized. We investigate the evolution, genetic variation and coding potential of human-specific segmental duplications (HSDs). We identify 218 HSDs based on analysis of 322 deeply sequenced archaic and contemporary hominid genomes. We sequence 550 human and nonhuman primate genomic clones to reconstruct the evolution of the largest, most complex regions with protein-coding potential (n=80 genes/33 gene families). We show that HSDs are non-randomly organized, associate preferentially with ancestral ape duplications termed "core duplicons", and evolved primarily in an interspersed inverted orientation. In addition to Homo sapiens-specific gene expansions (e.g., TCAF1/2), we highlight ten gene families (e.g., ARHGAP11B and SRGAP2C) where copy number never returns to the ancestral state, there is evidence of mRNA splicing, and no common gene-disruptive mutations are observed in the general population. Such duplicates are candidates for the evolution of human-specific adaptive traits.

Genetic studies of human evolution require high-quality contiguous ape genome assemblies that are not guided by the human reference. We coupled long-read sequence assembly and full-length complementary DNA sequencing with a multiplatform scaffolding approach to produce ab initio chimpanzee and orangutan genome assemblies. By comparing these with two long-read de novo human genome assemblies and a gorilla genome assembly, we characterized lineage-specific and shared great ape genetic variation ranging from single- to mega-base pair-sized variants. We identified ~17,000 fixed human-specific structural variants identifying genic and putative regulatory changes that have emerged in humans since divergence from nonhuman apes. Interestingly, these variants are enriched near genes that are down-regulated in human compared to chimpanzee cerebral organoids, particularly in cells analogous to radial glial neural progenitors.

Macular degeneration is a common cause of blindness in the elderly. To identify rare coding variants associated with a large increase in risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), we sequenced 2,335 cases and 789 controls in 10 candidate loci (57 genes). To increase power, we augmented our control set with ancestry-matched exome-sequenced controls. An analysis of coding variation in 2,268 AMD cases and 2,268 ancestry-matched controls identified 2 large-effect rare variants: previously described p.Arg1210Cys encoded in the CFH gene (case frequency (fcase) = 0.51%; control frequency (fcontrol) = 0.02%; odds ratio (OR) = 23.11) and newly identified p.Lys155Gln encoded in the C3 gene (fcase = 1.06%; fcontrol = 0.39%; OR = 2.68). The variants suggest decreased inhibition of C3 by complement factor H, resulting in increased activation of the alternative complement pathway, as a key component of disease biology.

The incomplete identification of structural variants (SVs) from whole-genome sequencing data limits studies of human genetic diversity and disease association. Here, we apply a suite of long-read, short-read, strand-specific sequencing technologies, optical mapping, and variant discovery algorithms to comprehensively analyze three trios to define the full spectrum of human genetic variation in a haplotype-resolved manner. We identify 818,054 indel variants (<50 bp) and 27,622 SVs (≥50 bp) per genome. We also discover 156 inversions per genome and 58 of the inversions intersect with the critical regions of recurrent microdeletion and microduplication syndromes. Taken together, our SV callsets represent a three to sevenfold increase in SV detection compared to most standard high-throughput sequencing studies, including those from the 1000 Genomes Project. The methods and the dataset presented serve as a gold standard for the scientific community allowing us to make recommendations for maximizing structural variation sensitivity for future genome sequencing studies.