A Team of Oxford and Mexican Researchers Want to Diversify Genomic Databases. Can They End ‘Parachute Science,’ Too?

August 11, 2022

(STAT News) – While Oxford, not a Mexican institution, had physical custody of all the samples, Mexican epidemiologists had actively participated in almost every step of the research, and once the genetic data were ready, the Oxford team would make them public and offer rapid, free, and preferential access to Mexican scientists. It went against the long history of “parachute science” or “helicopter research” — when researchers from wealthier nations visit low- and middle-income countries to collect data and samples, analyze them back at home, and publish the results with little or no involvement of local scientists. (Read More)