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In October of 1990 the U.S. Department of Energy, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), undertook what is considered to be one of the greatest scientific achievements of our time. Over the course of 13 years, scientists from around the world worked together to pinpoint the sequences of nearly all the genetic contents of the human genome.
The initiative known as the Human Genome Project advanced genetic tracing and paved the way for DNA testing companies like Ancestry, 23 and Me, and My Heritage. But despite its intention to further inform scientists of specific genes involved in rare and common diseases, there remains significant gaps in the field of genomics—particularly as it relates to African Americans.
Last week, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, announced a partnership with the nation’s four Historically Black Medical Colleges (HBMCs) to further support cutting-edge scientific research to address these significant gaps in genomics.
“It’s important to underscore that for Black Americans, there is a large gap between representation...