The opportunity in African genome resource for precision medicine

摘要

There is a critical need to increase and diversify genomic study inthe global efforts to achieving full implementation of precision medicine. Given this central importance of Africa to human origins,genetic diversity, and disease susceptibility, there is a clear scientificand public health need to develop large-scale efforts that examinesdisease susceptibility across diverse populations within Africa [1].The marked genomic diversity and allelic differentiation among populations in Africa, in combination with the substantially lower linkagedisequilibrium (correlation) among genetic variants, will provideexcellent opportunities to gain new insights into disease etiology andgenetic fine mapping that have relevance for African populations andglobally [2,3]. Importantly, given varying environments and adaptation, the spectrum and distribution of risk factors for a broad range ofnon-infectious and infectious diseases, and their individual contribution, may differ in African populations compared with European populations or those of African descent in Europe, North America andelsewhere [1]. However, despite the value of conducting such studiesin Africa, there have been relatively few investigations of populationdiversity and the genetic determinants of non-infectious or infectioustraits and diseases across the continent.