Wits University scientists are helping to close one of healthcare’s most significant evidence gaps. They are leading work to expand the number of African genomes in global datasets. The goal is simple: Make genetic research and its clinical tools work better for African populations.
Africa is the anatomical home of modern humans. It also exhibits the highest genetic diversity. People of European ancestry have dominated global genome databases. To date, fewer than 2% of sequenced human genomes have been from individuals of African origin. This imbalance shapes how researchers estimate disease risk and develop treatments.
African Genome Diversity Project Targets Long-Standing Data Gap
The Assessing Genetic Diversity in Africa (AGenDA) project is generating whole-genome sequence data from more than 1,000 people. These participants represent communities that existing datasets largely ignore. In South Africa, Wits’ Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) coordinates the program, while SBIMB director Professor Michèle Ramsay led the Nature paper describing the collaboration's foundation.
The paper focuses on the “how”, not just the sequences. It outlines community engagement, ethics approvals, legal compliance, and a shared governance framework. It also emphasises African leadership in decision-making and data sharing. That matters for trust, sustainability, and future partnerships.
African Genome Diversity and AI Bias in Disease Prediction
Ramsay issues a direct warning: if researchers train AI models for early disease detection without African genetic data, the models will produce biased outputs. The same issue shows up in more traditional tools. Genome-wide association studies and polygenic risk scores rely on pattern recognition. Those patterns differ across populations. Without African reference data, models can miss relevant variants and misestimate risk for African patients.
For healthcare leaders, this is not an academic detail. It affects screening strategies, trial recruitment, and diagnostic design. It also influences whether precision medicine will reduce inequity or widen it.
Nine-Country Whole-Genome Sequencing Effort Builds New Reference Data
AGenDA sits under the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) umbrella. The initiative established this framework to expand African genomics capacity and generate data that improves health both in Africa and globally.
Recruitment has included diverse populations and language groups. Partners have enrolled participants in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe, with overall coordination from South Africa. The Nature review also describes a nine-country sequencing plan to enrich global datasets.
What it Means for Healthcare, Trials, and Precision Medicine
The immediate value is better science. African genomes include deep branches of human genetic history. That helps researchers separate ancient variants from newer ones and spot variants that truly influence disease. Over time, richer African reference data should improve the performance of risk models and support treatment discovery across conditions, from cardiometabolic disease to mental illness.
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