By Linda Nordling

CAPE TOWN — More than 200 medical researchers met under sunny skies here on 4 and 5 March to discuss practical ways for the African continent to start benefiting from advances in genomics.

The meeting’s aim was to inform the design of the $37 million, five-year Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative. The initiative, funded by the Wellcome Trust, a UK medical research charity, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), aims to bring modern medical technology to bear on Africa’s heavy disease burden.

Africans are extremely genetically diverse — yet little is known about this variance and its health impact. To date, three quarters of the thousands of genetics studies completed worldwide have been conducted on populations of European descent. Africans are also poorly represented in international genetics projects such as the HapMap and 1,000 Genomes projects.

This gap presents both an opportunity and a challenge for Africa, NIH director Francis Collins said at the meeting. The rapidly falling cost of sequencing and genetic analysis has put the technology within reach for cash-strapped African researchers. Moreover, the importance of Africa as the birthplace of humanity makes African genetics an important and intriguing area of study, he said.

But the continent’s poor health systems — including scant medical data, low research capability and a lack of trained health professionals — means this research effort risks being managed outside the continent, he continued. “We need capacity building in areas where disease occurs.”

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Image: Irene Abdou, Newscom