human genome assembly

Question

[bioinfo355]

we have two assembly builds for reference human genome. which one is the best to use for alignment in variant analysis study. (GRCh37 or GRCh38)?

Answer 1

[WouterDeCoster]

The most recent version, GRCh38, is the most complete, so for that reason that one would be preferred. However, unfortunately, many databases used for annotation and comparison with variant databases are still in the older GRCh37/hg19 (e.g. ExAC). So if you need sources like that you'll probably be best off by sticking to GRCh37.