Monday, 30 January 2023

The Human Genome : All the Eggs in One Basket?

Healthcare's Standard genome is based on a single, American from Buffalo, New York. Although the genes of all humans are 99.9% the same, the inherent bias of the 'human genome' has drawbacks for much of the world's population (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/29/the-human-genome-needs-updating-but-how-do-we-make-it-fair). One person cannot be representative of the entire world. Most genome sequencing for medical purposes, is actually fundamentally biased. Indeed, the less ancestry one shares with the guy from Buffalo, the more unlikely it is that your particular genetic variation will be detected. In some patients, this will result in conditions being undiagnosed. Possible treatments may consequently be unoffered. In an attempt to limit this inherent bias, reference genomes for specific countries are now being generated. Having said that, one individual (usually a male), will not even be entirely representative of each of these countries.

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