minority genetic research. In January of 2015 the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) or “All of Us” worked to enlist one million minority volunteers into genetic research. PMI’s goal was to increase the participation of minority and lower socio-economic communities.
“But if you’re looking for a difference between the Obama administration and the current administration, race and ethnicity has been taken off the table,” said Burchard. It should be noted that funding for the NIH was increased by $2 billon as part of a budget plan for fiscal 2017. The PMI received $320 million of that funding.
The question of race and genetic research is extremely sensitive. Any type of research done on minority people can be misleading or used to bolster claims of racial superiority. In the past medical scientist have published documents that show a genetic link between skin color and intelligence or athletic ability. None of which stand up to unbiased scientific scrutiny. This may be why genetic research into minorities is a taboo topic.
“A lot of non-minority scientists are afraid to use the term race,” says Burchard. “People have used the term genetic ancestry. I think companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com and others have made it ok or given permission to talk about ancestry and differences. But people are afraid to talk about race and ethnicity. I certainly believe that scientist are afraid to talk about it. Physicians use it all the time but scientist do not.”
At UCSF Burchard is studying asthma in black children. His research revealed that previous genetic research into asthma excluded people of color. According to Burchard this research has nothing to do with the genetic susceptibility to asthma in African-Americans. Black people are twice as likely to die from the condition. This is important because genetic research depends on understanding the genetic ancestry of the research subjects. Minority people cannot benefit from advancement in genetic medicine if their genetic ancestry is not studied.
To highlight how genetic differences can make a drug successful Dr. Burchard talked about a new cholesterol lowering medicine. “The gene for the latest cholesterol medicine was completely missed in whites. But when they looked at African-Americans it was found because the gene had a higher frequency in African-Americans. But once they developed