The Europeans | European news, politics and culture How racial bias is messing with DNA research
Mapping our genes has already allowed humanity to make huge strides in medicine. But the vast majority of the genomes we’ve decoded are those of people of white European heritage. Why is that a problem, and how do we fix it? This week we talk to the Nigerian geneticist Segun Fatumo about fixing the genome gap. We’re also talking about Andalucía’s bid to protect flamenco, and why Europe’s most powerful media mogul is in hot water.
Segun is an associate professor of genetic epidemiology and bioinformatics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He tweets @SFatumo.
You can find a video of flamenco performers celebrating Andalucía’s new law here, and watch the latest visual podcast in our series with Are We Europe, 'Andrea', here. We are delighted that the visual version of an earlier episode of This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, 'Mohamed', has been nominated for the CIVIS Prize! Watch it here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: this interview on the European Space Agency's Jupiter mission; How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast); World Leader or My Friend's Dad? and Luis Sal's Parisian croissant review.
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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/how-racial-bias-is-messing-with-dna-research
00:22 Make Europe Digestible Again
02:23 A Good Week for protecting flamenco?
09:22 A Bad Week for Axel Springer's CEO
19:30 Interview: Segun Fatumo on the European bias of genomic studies
30:24 Isolation Inspiration: Juice, 'How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)', World Leader or My Friend's Dad, croissant reviews
34:59 Happy Ending: 500 days of reading and knitting (in a pitch-black cave)
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina