Precision medicine requires an understanding of a patient’s biological traits since it involves customizing treatments to suit the patient’s particular condition. Biotech and medicine are making great strides in this respect, but there have been constraints on this progress associated with a lack of genetic data and information from patients with diverse backgrounds, especially those from disadvantaged and underrepresented ethnic and or racial groups.
The fact is that more than 80% of genomics research to date has been done on persons of European ancestry. The lack of broader DNA sampling is likely to impede the development and discovery of drugs and frustrate hopes for equal access to precision medicine if not addressed adequately.
It is crucial to see sickness from the perspective of human biodiversity, which includes not only genetic makeup but also the manner in which various individuals react to illness. Researchers can learn more about the myriad ways in which humans differ from one another as well as what unites us by studying the genomes of people from diverse origins.
However, we can only get so far with genomics. To help as many patients as possible, it is crucial to combine the genetic, clinical, phenotypic, proteomic, and environmental information from various groups. It is also crucial to assemble diverse teams of researchers from nonprofit research institutions and the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that serve one of the country’s largest minority groups.
Human Diversity
Information on the entire genomes of several distinct populations is available thanks to data obtained through biobanks. Thus, for example, more than a million people are being enrolled in “All of Us,” a historic NIH project dedicated to advancing personalized care and precision medicine for all. The All of Us study will collect information from 1 million people across the United States from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
The intricate interactions between genes and environmental factors such as nutrition and education across groups represent another challenging aspect of the research on human diversity. The All of Us study stands to shed light on the biological mechanisms associated with the occurrence and progression of illness and facilitate efforts to discover new treatments.
The identification of blood protein levels that correlate with various illnesses has also helped researchers to understand better the relationship between genetics and the environment. As a result, it is relatively easy to ascertain whether the genetic variations that impact the levels of these proteins are connected with a given illness. Researchers are continuing to map the proteins involved in pathogenesis and to identify new treatment approaches.
Reason for Hope
The variations in the three billion base pairs that make up the human genome have been providing researchers with a wealth of knowledge since the complete sequencing of the genome was completed recently. The next stage in this research involves adding more layers of information, including medical, molecular, and environmental data, and correcting the long-standing tendency to exclude those whose ancestry differs from that of the broader population.
As the biotechnology industry and academic institutions rise to the challenge, an increasingly comprehensive picture of disease occurrence, progression, and treatment response will emerge. Precision medicine depends on ongoing research into our individual differences, and studies of human diversity are already teaching us that what divides us matters far less than what unites us.
