Research capacity. Enabling the genomic revolution in Africa.

Abstract

Our understanding of genome biology, genomics, and disease, and even human history, has advanced tremendously with the completion of the Human Genome Project. Technological advances coupled with significant cost reductions in genomic research have yielded novel insights into disease etiology, diagnosis, and therapy for some of the world’s most intractable and devastating diseases—including malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer, and diabetes. Yet, despite the burden of infectious diseases and, more recently, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa, Africans have only participated minimally in genomics research. Of the thousands of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) that have been conducted globally, only seven (for HIV susceptibility, malaria, tuberculosis, and podoconiosis) have been conducted exclusively on African participants; four others (for prostate cancer, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anthropometry) included some African participants (www. genome. gov/gwastudies/). As discussed in 2011 (www. h3africa. org), if the dearth of genomics research involving Africans persists, the potential health and economic benefits emanating from genomic science may elude an entire continent. The lack of large-scale genomics studies in Africa is the result of many deep-seated issues, including a shortage of African scientists with genomic research expertise, lack of biomedical research infrastructure, limited computational expertise and resources, lack of adequate support for biomedical research by African governments, and the participation of many African scientists in collaborative research at no more than the …