About this Research Topic
This Special Issue will undertake a critical appraisal of the impact of population-level genome sequencing initiatives across the Global South. In this issue, we will examine the claims and promises of genome sequencing initiatives in resource-poor regions, against the benefits accrued to the local population for scientific and medical progress. We will further examine the social and political dimensions of these genome sequencing initiatives, as embedded in local and global hierarchies of knowledge, power, and capital, the historical legacies of colonialism, and contemporary surveillance capitalism.
Suggested Sub-themes: We invite critical submissions which explore one or more of the following sub-themes centred on the political, social, and economic impacts of population genome sequencing initiatives in the Global South:
• Admixture – the ethics and challenges of defining the ‘genome profile’ of admixed populations
• Indigenous Genomics – navigating competing claims of genomic sovereignty
• Genomic Medicine and Public Health – impact of high-profile genomics and precision medicine programs on public health systems in resource-poor countries
• Genomics and Nation-building – defining genetic ancestry in the context of competing national political, racial, or ethnic narratives
• Biocolonialism – global hierarchies in science and technology shaped by colonial legacies of knowledge production, economic appropriation, and biological exploitation
• Genomics and Bioeconomies – navigating genomic medicine in the global patent regime, including the use of personal and aggregated data as sources of publicly and privately owned intellectual property.
• Surveillance Capitalism – consequences of obtaining genomics data from marginalized populations for data markets in the age of surveillance capitalism
• Citizen Genomics – citizen-led genomics initiatives which seek to reclaim the power of genomics for social justice projects, e.g. missing persons databases in Mexico
Suggested Sub-themes: We invite critical submissions which explore one or more of the following sub-themes centred on the political, social, and economic impacts of population genome sequencing initiatives in the Global South:
• Admixture – the ethics and challenges of defining the ‘genome profile’ of admixed populations
• Indigenous Genomics – navigating competing claims of genomic sovereignty
• Genomic Medicine and Public Health – impact of high-profile genomics and precision medicine programs on public health systems in resource-poor countries
• Genomics and Nation-building – defining genetic ancestry in the context of competing national political, racial, or ethnic narratives
• Biocolonialism – global hierarchies in science and technology shaped by colonial legacies of knowledge production, economic appropriation, and biological exploitation
• Genomics and Bioeconomies – navigating genomic medicine in the global patent regime, including the use of personal and aggregated data as sources of publicly and privately owned intellectual property.
• Surveillance Capitalism – consequences of obtaining genomics data from marginalized populations for data markets in the age of surveillance capitalism
• Citizen Genomics – citizen-led genomics initiatives which seek to reclaim the power of genomics for social justice projects, e.g. missing persons databases in Mexico
Keywords: genome sequencing, global south, admixture, indigenous genomics, genomic medicine and public health, genomics and nation-building, biocolonialism, genomics and bioeconomies, surveillance capitalism, citizen genomics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
