To date, research into the genetic cause of disease has been overwhelmingly white.
Of the participants in the most common type of genetic disease study, 96 percent are of European descent. Growing evidence suggests that the results of these studies, which encompass hundreds of thousands of people, may be less relevant or even irrelevant to those in other ethnic groups.
23andMe, a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, aims to shift the balance. It will offer free testing to 10,000 African-Americans as part of a research initiative to expand the diversity of its genetic database. The company hopes the project, announced last week at the National Urban League conference in Boston, will shed light on the genetic basis of disease in this population. More than 1,000 people have signed up on the website in the week since the project was announced.
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