Two recent studies leveraging long-read sequencing technologies provide unprecedented insights into structural variants and nearly complete human genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project. These efforts closed over 90% of assembly gaps and uncovered tens of thousands of previously unreported structural variants, particularly in repetitive and centromeric regions, enhancing the understanding of genetic diversity. Parallel research has elucidated the role of DNA secondary structures like G-quadruplexes in drug resistance for ovarian cancer, unveiling new epigenetic factors influencing cancer biology.