MALARIA: Genome study in Africa

In the ten years since the Human Genome Project was completed genomics has progressed in leaps and bounds, but surprisingly little has been about Africa or by African scientist.
The vast majority of genomic studies have been of American, Asian and European genomes, with just one genome-wide association study (looking at malaria) based on an African population – surprising considering that around one billion people live on the African continent.
That makes today’s announcement all the more exciting. A new partnership from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Wellcome Trust looks to fund population-based genetic studies in Africa. The $38 million Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3 Africa) Project will also build capacity for African scientists to do genomic studies in their home countries.
Yesterday, I attended a press briefing for the launch of H3 Africa and heard how African populations are interesting, scientifically, for a number of reasons.
First, we know that African genomes contain more genetic variation than any other on Earth. African genomes are also much ‘older’ than European or Asian genomes. In practical terms, this means that it is easier to focus in on particular gene variants and work out their level of association with particular traits, say risk of high blood pressure, because the signal is clearer. The genetic variants in African genomes are more clearly associated with certain regions of the genome than in Asian and European genomes, which will make it easier to find those ‘ancient’ variants that are associated with disease risk and apply to everyone worldwide
http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/putting-africa-on-the-genomic-map/#more-2323