Braingenethics Update, Volume 8, Issue 2

In the Literature

Polygenic Risk Scores in the Clinic: New Perspectives Needed on Familiar Ethical Issues
Anna C. F. Lewis and Robert C. Green
Despite parallels to established ethical issues in single-gene testing, new work is urgently needed to gather data, consider normative implications, and develop best practices around clinical use of polygenic risk scores.

The Psychiatric Genetic Data of Children in Proceedings to Terminate Parental Rights
Maya Sabatello et al.
This vignette study suggests that psychiatric genetic evidence in termination proceedings may have unintended consequences, and that measures should be taken to ensure that it does not unfairly affect outcomes.

Genetic Variation, Brain, and Intelligence Differences
Ian Deary et al.
A review of the last 10 years of genetic and brain imaging research on intelligence reveals modest overlap; future points of convergence towards an integrated systems-biological account of individual differences are identified.

Autism Spectrum Disorder from the Womb to Adulthood: Suggestions for a Paradigm Shift
Cristina Panisi et al.
A new conception of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) that focuses on prenatal and early life stages can impact both theoretical understanding and clinical care.

In the Media

DNA and Our Twenty-First-Century Ancestors
Duana Fullwiley
An anthropologist explores the racial/ancestral imaginary conveyed by direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry testing companies.

Experts Encouraged by Denali’s Early Results in Study of Hunter Syndrome Drug
Matthew Harper
Hunter syndrome, a rare condition where the lack of an enzyme leads to differences in joints, cognition, heart function, and head and spleen sizes, may be profitably treated by a new drug that reduces symptoms of cognitive decline.

Intermountain Launches Precision Medicine Study on Genetic Diseases
Jessica Kent
Intermountain’s new HerediGene: Children’s Study, the world’s largest DNA mapping effort undertaken in children, will involve the voluntary collection of 50,000 DNA samples of children, as well as their parents and siblings, to seek treatments and cures for genetic disorders.

Dementia Rates Higher in Men with Common Genetic Disorder Haemochromatosis
Lauren Woods
New research suggests that European-ancestry men who have the Western world’s most common genetic disorder, hemochromatosis, are more likely to develop dementia.

Spotlight on Genetics, Race, and Ancestry
Equitable genetic and genomic research must properly conceive of race, ethnicity, and ancestry. Here we present new papers that explore this intersection.

Recalibrating the Use of Race in Medical Research
John P. A. Ioannidis et al.
Race, like health inequity, is socially constructed, and should – for now at least – remain a variable in medical research. Meanwhile, accepted medical knowledge that relies on “race” should be carefully examined for rigor, and researchers should ask themselves why race is important in new research they carry out.

Race and Genetic Ancestry in Medicine — A Time for Reckoning with Racism
Luisa Borrell et al.
Complementing the use of race/ethnicity with data on genetic ancestry, genotypes, or biomarkers might be useful, but risks and benefits should be analyzed carefully for specific clinical applications.

Embracing Genetic Diversity to Improve Black Health
Akinyemi Ori-Onisan et al.
Five Black male genetics researchers argue that clinically relevant genetic differences exist between people belonging to different socially constructed racial categories. At the same time, genetic ancestry should ultimately replace race as a variable of study.

From One Human Genome to a Complex Tapestry of Ancestry
Charles Rotimi and Adebowale Adeyemo
A brief history of population genetic research leads to specific suggestions regarding diversity in this space.

Low Generalizability of Polygenic Scores in African Populations Due to Genetic and Environmental Diversity
Lerato Majara
Differences in polygenic risk score accuracy across African ancestries originating from diverse regions are as large as across out-of-Africa continental ancestries, requiring commensurate nuance.

Little Progress in the Fight against Health Research Inequality: Action Needed
Emma Fabian
One year after the introduction of Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre’s GWAS Diversity Monitor, around 88 per cent of genetic discoveries use samples taken from people of European ancestry.

Sequence Three Million Genomes Across Africa
Ambroise Wonkam
Too much of the genomic research done in Africa has been driven by European and American investigators, whose priorities may be detached from Africans’ needs. The proposed solution: African researchers sequencing Three Million African Genomes (3MAG).

Genomes Arising
Elizabeth Pennisi
The Human Heredity & Health in Africa Initiative is trying to close the inter-continental gap in genetic research, but genomic research in Africa has a long way to go and funding remains a big issue.

Braingenethics

Update

Vol. 8, No. 2
February 2021

In the Literature

In the Media