Summary
Advances in kidney genomics in the past 20 years has opened the door for more precise
diagnosis of kidney disease and identification of new and specific therapeutic agents.
Despite these advances, an imbalance exists between low-resource and affluent regions
of the world. Individuals of European ancestry from the United States, United Kingdom,
and Iceland account for 16% of the world's population, but represent more than 80%
of all genome-wide association studies. South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America,
and Africa together account for 57% of the world population but less than 5% of genome-wide
association studies. Implications of this difference include limitations in new variant
discovery, inaccurate interpretation of the effect of genetic variants in non-European
populations, and unequal access to genomic testing and novel therapies in resource-poor
regions. It also further introduces ethical, legal, and social pitfalls, and ultimately
may propagate global health inequities. Ongoing efforts to reduce the imbalance in
low-resource regions include funding and capacity building, population-based genome
sequencing, population-based genome registries, and genetic research networks. More
funding, training, and capacity building for infrastructure and expertise is needed
in resource-poor regions. Focusing on this will ensure multiple-fold returns on investments
in genomic research and technology.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 17, 2023
Footnotes
Financial support: Titilayo Ilori is supported by National Institute of Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant K23DK119542 and the Boston Medical Center; Kar-Hui Ng is funded by the National Medical Research Council Singapore Clinician Scientist Award CSAINVmay009; and Rasheed Gbadegesin is supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Diseases grants 5R01DK098135 and 5R01DK094987, National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant 1R21HD104176-01, and the Duke Health Scholars award.
Conflict of interest statement: none.
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