Beyond borders: A commentary on the benefit of promoting immigrant populations in genome-wide association studies

• Published in: HGG advances Vol. 4; no. 3; p. 100205
• Main Author: Fernández-Rhodes, Lindsay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 13.07.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Genetics
• ISSN: 2666-2477; 2666-2477
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2023.100205

Immigrants are an important part of many high-income nations, in that they contribute to the sociocultural tapestry, economic well-being, and demographic diversity of their receiving countries and communities. Yet, genomic studies to date have generally focused on non-immigrant, European-ancestry populations. Although this approach has proven fruitful in discovering and validating genomic loci, within the context of racially/ethnically diverse countries like the United States—wherein half of immigrants hail from Latin America and another quarter from Asia—this approach is insufficient. There is a persistent diversity gap in genomic research in terms of both current samples and genome-wide association studies, meaning that the field’s understanding of genetic architecture and gene-environmental interactions is being hampered. In this commentary, I provide motivating examples of recent research developments related to the following: (1) how the increased ancestral diversity, such as seen among Latin American immigrants, improves power to discover and document genomic loci, (2) informs how environmental factors, such as immigration-related exposures, interact with genotypes to influence phenotypes, and (3) how inclusion can be promoted through community-engaged research programs and policies. I conclude that greater inclusion of immigrants in genomic research can move the field forward toward novel discoveries and interventions to address racial/ethnic health disparities. Genomic studies to date have focused primarily on non-immigrant populations, and in this commentary, I provide motivating examples on the benefit of promoting the inclusion of immigrant populations in genomics. I conclude that greater diversity and inclusion can lead to additional discoveries and inform interventions to address racial/ethnic health disparities.