Eight years ago if you asked me what my favorite startup in human genetics was I might have said 23andMe. Two years ago I would have said Genomics PLC.

My favorite human genetics startup right now might be Variant Bio. I found the company on Twitter the other day. The mission of the company looks super interesting, traversing the globe to find humans who are outliers for different traits. If the trait then has a genetic basis then sequencing these individuals could potentially help in finding new therapeutics that mimic the trait. It just makes sense, looking for large effect traits with a putative genetic basis. It sounds like an super exciting job for a human geneticist(definitely does to me.)

The science aside, this is a very sensitive area of research/work. Why should indigenous groups offer up their DNA data, what’s in it for them? Who benefits from this data, is it just the big drug companies or will it be shared in an open manner with the larger scientific community? Why are venture capitalists interested in funding this, wouldn’t this be better done with national funding? Are the individuals being offered genetic counseling? What happens if some unforeseen findings show up? (false paternity or incidental clinical findings for example. In some countries, adulturers can be subject to stoning.) A lot of these individuals might not have access to proper healthcare and might possibly be unaware of how genes work, any new information could potentially be stressful at the least or life-altering.

Working across cultures is extremely challenging but also I think can be very fulfilling and potentially lead to important scientific discoveries. I hope these issues are very carefully thought out and not just driven by market forces.