Genetic research should start including racial , ethnic , and Indigenous groups
Minorities suffer from European bias and historical transgressions
Historically , disenfranchised racial and ethnic groups and indigenous populations have been largely excluded from genomic research and may not benefit as much as those with European ancestry .
That ’ s according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association that suggests ways to eliminate the barriers .
�enetic research looks at how individual genes affect health and disease and has led to the identification of important singlegene disorders such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy , a hereditary condition where heart muscle becomes abnormally thick .
Researchers have long used the genomes of large numbers of people to detect patterns associated with health or disease , which then allows them to assess the risk for certain heart diseases . However , while �0 percent of participants in genome-wide association studies have European ancestry , they represent just 1� percent of the world ’ s population .
�This limits the ability to identify genomic markers for disease risk ,” the statement ’ s authors wrote . “ For example , genomic scores to determine risk for certain heart diseases are less accurate when used with ethnically and racially diverse populations or indigenous peoples than when used with persons of European ancestry .”
New genomes that represent more diverse groups of people are therefore needed , which will require greater numbers of people from diverse ethnicities and ancestry in medical research , they said .
�ut the authors cautioned that might be difficult because of �a deep and understandable mistrust of scientific research caused by numerous historical transgressions against marginalised racial and ethnic groups and indigenous populations .’’
For example , the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis recruited �lack men in the US in the 1930s and 1940s with the promise of free healthcare but gave them only placebos , even after penicillin was shown to be an effective treatment .
“ Comparable atrocities ” similar to this have occurred in other disenfranchised racial and ethnic groups , the statement said , “ including some that are not publicly acknowledged or disclosed ”.
To rebuild trust and recruit more diverse participants in genetic and genomic studies , the authors advised researchers to devise plans to reduce inequities that emphasise respect , honesty , justice , and fairness .
Diet during pregnancy may influence baby ’ s heart health
Scientists gain better understanding of how early exposures predict cardiovascular disease
Diet and other lifestyle factors during pregnancy may change how a baby ’ s genes work in a way that can affect the child ’ s cardiovascular health by age eight or nine , new research has found .
With rates of cardiovascular disease rising globally , early intervention can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease , heart failure , stroke , and high blood pressure later in life . �ut identifying potential problems early in children who might develop cardiovascular disease later in life remains a challenge .
One area that scientists are now looking at is epigenetics — the study of how the environment and other exposures alter the way a person ’ s genes work — to better predict future heart disease risk .
One of the body ’ s epigenetic mechanisms for changing gene function , without changing the gene itself , is called DNA methylation .
During this process , bundles of carbon and hydrogen atoms known as methyl groups attach to a part of a DNA strand and act like a power switch to turn the gene ’ s expression on or off . Maternal diet , smoking , stress , and other environmental factors can influence a child ’ s DNA methylation even before birth .
In the new study , �ritish researchers analysed samples of babies ’ umbilical cord blood to compare the DNA methylation patterns with measurements of their cardiovascular health at age eight or nine . They identified 1� sites where methylation altered the expression of genes associated with aorta pulse wave velocity , a measure of blood vessel stiffness that can increase cardiovascular disease risk .
They also looked at the possible links between maternal factors and the methylation patterns at the sites . Smoking , diet , and weight around pregnancy modified those patterns .
The findings suggested that the trajectory of cardiovascular disease risk starts very early , even before birth , said Dr Mark Hanson of Southampton University on the release of the study . So given that the epigenetic process appears to play a role , “ there ’ s an opportunity to change this in various ways ,” he said . “ And if we want our kids to have the longest , healthiest lives possible , then we need to help them to develop in a healthy way literally from the moment of conception .”
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com AUGUST 2021
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