In order to obtain a diagnosis of a rare chromosome disorder, many will have undergone an ‘array CGH’ test, or an ‘array’ for short, but what is an array CGH and how does it help?

For Rare Chromosome and Gene Disorder Awareness Day 2022, we’re launching the first in a series of animations to help families better understand key parts of Genomics. Produced by the Unique team, working with Manta Ray Media, film producer Adam Brichto, artist and animator Aimée McLernon, Consultant Clinical Geneticist and Unique Trustee Dr. Shwetha Ramachandrappa and Consultant Genetic Counsellor Dr. Vishakha Tripathi, the aim is to cut through some of the more complex terms in an accessible, straightforward way. We think this ‘jargon buster’ from Unique will be of real benefit to lots of families now and well into the future as they begin to come to terms with their family member’s condition and the diagnosis. It will also be useful for professionals, helping to explain things to patients, for example before they undergo an array CGH.

You can view the animation here: https://youtu.be/s7WWd7zsCdU and for more about Unique and #Rarechromoday 2022, please visit https://rarechromo.org/rarechromoday/

We are grateful to actor Adam Astill for narrating the animation and to the Dewan Foundation (via Joe Nicholson) for funding this first animation. We’d also like to express our sincere thanks to the volunteers who participated in our focus groups to help develop the animation. We are delighted to have secured funding for the next in the series, which we are working on now and will launch as soon as possible.