There’s a new All of Us database from the National Institutes of Health of the genomes of a quarter of a million volunteers. It was specifically created to be extra-diverse to answer complaints that previous genome databases weren’t diverse enough. From Nature announcing the database:
Genomic data in the All of Us Research Program
The All of Us Research Program Genomics Investigators
Nature (2024)Abstract
Comprehensively mapping the genetic basis of human disease across diverse individuals is a long-standing goal for the field of human genetics1,2,3,4. The All of Us Research Program is a longitudinal cohort study aiming to enrol a diverse group of at least one million individuals across the USA to accelerate biomedical research and improve human health5,6. Here we describe the programme’s genomics data release of 245,388 clinical-grade genome sequences. This resource is unique in its diversity as 77% of participants are from communities that are historically under-represented in biomedical research and 46% are individuals from under-represented racial and ethnic minorities. All of Us identified more than 1 billion genetic variants, including more than 275 million previously unreported genetic variants, more than 3.9 million of which had coding consequences. Leveraging linkage between genomic data and the longitudinal electronic health record, we evaluated 3,724 genetic variants associated with 117 diseases and found high replication rates across both participants of European ancestry and participants of African ancestry. Summary-level data are publicly available, and individual-level data can be accessed by researchers through the All of Us Researcher Workbench using a unique data passport model with a median time from initial researcher registration to data access of 29 hours. We anticipate that this diverse dataset will advance the promise of genomic medicine for all.
And here’s a graph from the article showing that, indeed, they’ve come up with a highly diverse database:
But this kind of Big Data Science project is so pre–Great Awokening and the rise of Science Denialism. Thus, Berkeley geneticist Michael Eisen immediately demanded this paper be retracted by Nature due the Evil Racistness and Racist Evilness of the above graph:
This paper from @AllofUsResearch needs to be retracted by @nature immediately. Under pretext of inclusivity it features a scientifically invalid representation of genetic diversity and race that is going to feature in racist literature for decades. https://t.co/5RQ46dZgkV
— Michael Eisen (@mbeisen) February 20, 2024
