Africa’s People Must Be Able to Write Their Own Genomics Agenda

October 28, 2020

(Nature) – An extensive study of genomic data from people in Africa has revealed more than three million previously undescribed genetic variants, many of them in populations whose DNA had never been sampled before. The study is a milestone in genomics research. It begins to fill a gaping hole in the world’s DNA databases, which have until now contained little data from Africa’s people. At the same time, most of the study’s authors are based at institutions in Africa. Both of these facts are to be welcomed.