A substantial amount of structural variation in the human genome remains uninvestigated due to the limitations of existing technologies, the presence of repetitive sequences, and the complexity of a diploid genome. New technologies have been developed, increasing resolution and appreciation of structural variation and how it affects human diversity and disease. The genetic etiology of most patients with complex disorders such as neurodegenerative brain diseases is not yet elucidated, complicating disease diagnosis, genetic counseling, and understanding of underlying pathological mechanisms needed to develop therapeutic interventions. Here, we focus on innovative progress and opportunities provided by the newest methods such as linked read sequencing, strand-specific sequencing, and long-read sequencing. Finally, we describe a strategy for generating a comprehensive catalog of structural variations across populations. Structural Variation Has Been Systematically Missed Multiple projects have comprehensively cataloged small genetic variants [single nucleotide variants (SNVs)]; however, structural variants (SVs) remain largely underrepresented [1,2]. SVs are defined as regions of DNA larger than 50 bp showing a change in copy number or genomic location including copy number variants (CNVs; deletions and duplications), insertions, inversions, translocations, mobile elements, repetitive sequence expansions, and complex combinations thereof (Figure 1) [3]. SVs contribute $3.4 times more nucleotides to human genetic variation than the far more numerous SNVs [4]. Multiple sequencing technologies (see Glossary), notably longread sequencing and short-read sequencing library preparation methods such as strand-specific sequencing (strand-seq) and linked-read sequencing, have been developed, providing an unprecedented potential and accuracy of genome-wide structural variation. Here, we describe new improvements to SV detection methods, each with different strengths and shortcomings. One landmark study combined several technologies to obtain a complete haplotype-specific characterization in healthy human trios, yielding >30 000 SVs per genome, including >150 inversions and large unbalanced chromosomal rearrangements [5]. This work suggested that previous technologies missed most of the SVs due to technical limitations. The majority of SVs are novel and rare variants, implicating that structural variation databases are not saturated yet [2-7]. Highlights The genetic etiology of complex human diseases is still poorly understood, hampering diagnostics and therapeutic approaches.