Genetics research has a diversity problem. This is widely recognized, but when you see the data it’s staggering.
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[However, this]…is reflective of the general lack of diversity in all aspects of health research. There are lots of reasons — historical, cultural, political.…
Though we do conduct our own research[,]…for the most part 23andMe is dependent on peer-reviewed scientific research published by others to fuel the reports in our product. Lack of diversity in what is studied by the research community at large therefore impacts the results we are able to provide to customers.
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The author of the Quartz article focused in on the numbers of people in our most granular population references…It’s an understandable worry…Bigger must be better, right? Not necessarily. For Ancestry Composition, high accuracy can often be obtained with relatively modest sample sizes. Size matters more when it comes to granularity, not accuracy.
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We can always do better. We want people…to keep holding us accountable…But accusing us of racial bias and shoddy science is unfair. It reduces an important conversation to clickbait.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: The Real Issue: Diversity in Genetics Research
