‘Helicopter Research’ by Genetic Scientists Comes under Scrutiny in South Africa
Clinical laboratories and pathology groups can benefit from knowing how genetic testing is being used for other than medical testing purposes
It is useful for pathologists and clinical laboratory managers to be aware of the different ways genetic testing and DNA sequencing is being conducted. That’s because a genetic test for one purpose—such as identifying an individual’s relatives and connection to a region or a cultural group—might generate data that could become part of that person’s medical care.
Thus, an ongoing genetic study in South Africa highlighting the issue of so-called “helicopter research” will be informative for Dark Daily’s readers.
Also known as “neo-colonial science,” helicopter research describes when scientists from wealthy countries perform research in lower-income countries in ways that may be deemed exploitative or disrespectful to local populations.
“Scientists conduct helicopter research when they collect data from developing countries and marginalized communities with little to no involvement from local researchers and community members,” wrote researchers Dana Al-Hindi, and Brenna Henn PhD, in an article for The Conversation. “Helicopter research also occurs when researchers take data out of the country they collected it from without either providing benefit to or sharing the results with the community.”
In an article for The Conversation, UC Davis researchers Brenna Henn, PhD (left), and Dana Al-Hindi (right), wrote, “While we have learned a great deal from these communities, we have been unable to fulfill a common request: providing them their individual genetic ancestry result. In our attempts to overcome the logistical challenges of providing this information, we’ve grappled with the common question of how to ensure an equitable balance of benefits between researchers and the community they study. What we’ve found is that there is no easy answer.” Clinical laboratories will want to remember the term “Helicopter Research” in relation to these types of studies. (Photos copyright: UC Davis/The Conversation.)
Unraveling History of South Africans
Henn, a population geneticist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of California Davis (UC Davis), is principal investigator at the university’s Henn Lab for Human Population Genetics. Al-Hindi is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at UC Davis.
The South Africa study, conducted over the past 12 years, aims to use genetic data “to help unravel the history and prehistory of southern Africans and their relationship to populations around the world,” the authors wrote in The Conversation.
The researchers have been using the genetic data to trace the ancestry of indigenous Khoekhoe and San peoples in South Africa as well as other populations that self-identify as “Colored.”
“Early European colonizers initially used this term to refer to indigenous Khoekhoe and San groups long before it was codified by the apartheid government in 1948,” the researchers wrote. “It persists today as an ethnic category, broadly encompassing Khoe-San groups, various East African, Indian, and Southeast Asian populations brought by the slave trade, and people of mixed ancestry.”
Challenges Sharing Genetic Data with Study Participants
Participants in the study have asked to see their personal genetic ancestry results, but the researchers noted several challenges, including local restrictions and the difficulty of presenting complex data in “an accessible and digestible form.” So, the researchers partnered with consumer-focused genetic testing company 23andMe (NASDAQ:ME).
23andMe provided additional funding for the research, assisted the researchers in community outreach, and “expanded our ability to ‘capacity-build’—that is, to make sure that the knowledge and skills we gain are shared with local institutions,” Henn and Al-Hindi wrote in The Conversation. They added that they are still dealing with questions about whether their efforts to provide equitable benefits are sufficient.
“Our research team, local collaborators, and 23andMe are all concerned about how to best address the risk of helicopter research, coercion, and any unknown risks that may arise from disclosing personal ancestry results,” they wrote.
Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity
The issue of helicopter research was a major focus at the 7th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI), held May 29-June 1 in Cape Town, South Africa. It was the first WCRI to be held in Africa and adopted the theme “Fostering Research Integrity in an Unequal World.”
One outcome of the conference will be an effort to produce what is known as the Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity. The statement will “highlight the importance of fairness in international research partnerships,” noted Research Professional News.
The statement “compels institutions and researchers alike to act on their responsibilities to promote equity, diversity, and fairness in research partnerships,” conference speaker Retha Visagie, DCur, told the publication. She leads the Research Integrity Office at the University of South Africa.
Conference co-chair Lyn Horn, PhD, director the Office of Research Integrity at the University of Cape Town, told the publication that it could take up to a year before a draft of the statement is ready for comment.
Horn was the lead author of a preconference discussion paper, titled “Fostering Research Integrity through the Promotion of Fairness, Equity and Diversity in Research Collaborations and Contexts: Towards a Cape Town Statement,” which outlined the goals of the statement as well as the rationale.
One overarching goal will be to “demonstrate why inequity and unfair practices in research collaborations and contexts is a research integrity (RI) matter,” the authors wrote. “Second it must identify some key values or principles and action guides that will address the issue of equity and fairness in research within the context of the complete research life cycle from research agenda setting and call to proposal development, through grant application, allocation and management of funding, data production, analysis, management and sharing, to outputs, translation, and evaluation.”
Another conference speaker, Francis Kombe PhD, told attendees the statement will offer guidance specifically to institutions such as universities, journals, and funding organizations, the journal Science reported. That stands in contrast to earlier statements on helicopter research, which were geared more toward individuals and small groups.
How any of this will impact clinical laboratories and pathology groups remains unclear. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile knowing how gene sequencing is being used by researchers for purposes other than to guide diagnoses and treatment of patients.
–Stephen Beale
Related Information:
Meaningful Collaborations Can End ‘Helicopter Research’
‘Helicopter Research’ Comes Under Fire at Cape Town Conference
