Scientists are building New Zealand’s first genomic database – with the hope of tackling some of the biggest diseases hurting Kiwis.
A collaboration with iwi, the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme is also taking aim at major health inequities that still leave Māori and Pacific people worse off.
The leading researchers behind the effort, which just received a Government cash injection of nearly $5m, say it’s a first step toward what could become a crucial resource for Kiwi patients in the future.
Genomics focuses on the complex jigsaw puzzle that is our genetic make-up, and scientists have used it to understand more about everything from cancer to obesity.
Yet the bulk of those insights have come out of US and European datasets.
With the new funding, Genomics Aotearoa’s director Professor Peter Dearden said, researchers could develop technology to get our own information – and about own unique genomes.
“Understanding our unique populations is going to be vital if we are to ensure that genomic medicine is not just for well-studied populations overseas.”
World-renowned Otago University geneticist Professor Stephen Robertson likened not using this home-sourced data in medical care to renovating a house without knowing its designs and plans.
In the new programme, Robertson will work alongside Ngāti Porou Hauroa in the East Coast’s Tairawhiti district to sequence the genomes of 500 local people.
By combining their genomic data with personal health records, they aim to show how certain genetic factors influence how different patients respond to different prescribed drugs.
