Genomics and inclusion of Indigenous peoples in high income countries

Kylie Gwynne, Shirley Jiang, Robertson Venema, Vita Christie*, Tiffany Boughtwood, Marida Ritha, John Skinner, Nyesa Ali, Boe Rambaldini, Tom Calma

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
49 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Genomics research related to Indigenous people has been at worst exploitative and at best, retrospectively on a journey to improve effective engagement of Indigenous individuals and communities. Genomics can positively impact all stages of clinical management, and to improve genomic effectiveness researchers aggregate genomic data from diverse global sub-populations, such as shared ancestry groupings, as people within these groupings will have a greater proportion of shared DNA traits. While genomics is already being used worldwide to improve lives, its utility and effectiveness has not been maximized for individuals with Indigenous ancestry. Several large datasets of human genetic variation have been made publicly available, of which the most widely used is the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), but none of these databases currently contain any population-specific data for Indigenous populations. There are many reasons why Indigenous people have been largely left out of genomics research and, because of this, miss out on the benefits offered. It is also clear that if research is to be effective, it needs to be done ‘with’ and not ‘on’ Indigenous communities. This systematic review of the literature regarding Indigenous peoples (in high income countries) and genomics aims to review the existing literature and identify areas of strength and weakness in study design and conduct, focusing on the effectiveness of Indigenous community engagement.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1407-1416
Number of pages10
JournalHuman Genetics
Volume142
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2023. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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