Skip to content
Review

A new era of integration of genetics and neurology.

Jul 2026 · Current opinion in pediatrics · 0 citations · 37 references
Medicine

TL;DR

Genomics is rapidly becoming an essential component of day-to-day pediatric neurology practice rather than a niche research discipline, and preparing the workforce through initiatives such as the Child Neurology Society Genetics Curriculum and partnering with patient advocacy organizations will be critical to ensuring equitable implementation of genomic medicine and precision therapeutics.

Abstract

Purpose

OF REVIEW Pediatric neurology has undergone a profound transformation over the past two decades. Alongside traditional diagnostic tools such as neuroimaging, electroencephalography, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, next-generation sequencing has emerged as a central component of clinical evaluation. Simultaneously, the field has shifted from predominantly symptomatic management toward disease-specific and precision-based therapies. This review synthesizes recent advances in neurogenomics and discusses their implications for the future of pediatric neurology and pediatric medicine more broadly. RECENT

Findings

Broad genetic testing, including exome and genome sequencing, is increasingly considered standard of care for many neurodevelopmental and neurological phenotypes, including developmental delay, autism, epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, and stroke. For selected exome-negative cases, emerging approaches such as long-read sequencing, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and functional studies may further improve diagnostic yield. Therapeutic advances now include enzyme replacement therapies, antisense oligonucleotides, and gene therapies, with several interventions already FDA-approved and many others in clinical development. As these therapies expand, posttherapy surveillance and development of institutional expertise become increasingly important. SUMMARY Genomics is rapidly becoming an essential component of day-to-day pediatric neurology practice rather than a niche research discipline. Preparing the workforce through initiatives such as the Child Neurology Society Genetics Curriculum and partnering with patient advocacy organizations will be critical to ensuring equitable implementation of genomic medicine and precision therapeutics.

View source

Similar papers

Review Open access Aug 2026

Spinal muscular atrophy: history and current treatment landscape

An overview of the history of SMA is provided, highlighting its evolving classification and the genetic basis underlying its clinical variability, and the development and clinical trial data of the three Food and Drug Administration- and European Medicines Agency-approved therapies: nusinersen, onasemnogene abeparvovec...

Olcay Ünver, J. Wilmshurst, Haluk A. Topaloglu · 0 citations
Review Open access Jul 2026

GENETIC AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS IN PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

The study provides an integrated framework linking genetic variation to molecular dysfunction and clinical outcomes, offering valuable insights for future research and therapeutic development in pediatric neurology.

Varada Vidya Rani, Suryanarayana Reddy Kovvuri, Narendra Kumar Arya · 0 citations

Therapeutic Advances and Novel Drug Treatment Opportunities in the Neuromuscular Disorders Area

This Editorial examines how the emergence of new therapies impacts the survival and motility of children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy, limb girdle muscular dystrophy, late-onset glycogenosis type 2, myotonic dystrophy and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy.

C. Angelini · 0 citations
Review Open access Aug 2026

Modern diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis: advances, challenges, and future directions.

Key updates include expansion of dissemination in space to incorporate the optic nerve, integration of relapsing and progressive onset MS within a unified diagnostic framework, provision for diagnosis in selected asymptomatic individuals, dispensing with the requirement for dissemination of time in certain situations a...

P. Siriratnam, Mineesh Datta, Katherine A. Buzzard et al. · 0 citations
Review Open access Jul 2026

Epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures: A scoping review of clinical features, diagnostic testing including genetics, long-term outcomes, mortality, and current and emerging therapeutic strategies.

EIMFS remains one of the most refractory epilepsy syndromes of infancy and international collaborative registries, standardized outcome measures, genotype-stratified biomarker studies, and rapid point-of-care genomic testing are urgently needed to advance evidence-based care.

Debopam Samanta · 2 citations
Review Open access Aug 2026

Beyond Targeted Gene Panels: Whole-Exome Sequencing as a Strategic Platform for Precision Therapeutics in Alzheimer’s Disease

This review analyzes the use of WES as a strategic platform for personalized decision-making in contemporary practice given the multifactorial and heterogeneous complexity of AD, and proposes a hypothesis-generating theoretical framework whereby variants conventionally classified as benign or of uncertain significance...

Carlos Perezcano, M. Pérez-Coria, Ángel Ricardi-Mendoza · 0 citations

We use cookies to run the site and, with your consent, for analytics and to show ads. See our Cookie Policy.