Bioethics, population studies, and geneticophobia

Abstract

In any research of human populations, the classical principles of bioethics (respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, proportionality between risks and benefits, and justice) should be strictly followed. The question of individual and/or community rights should also be considered, as well as some neglected rights, such as the right to benefit from progress in science and technology and the right to know the nature of the group's biological and cultural history; however, in their urge to assure rights, social researchers, bioethics commissions, non-governmental organizations, and community leaders are, in many cases, crossing the limits of good sense. DNA is sometimes interpreted as synonymous to demoniac, and there is a frequent behaviour that I could only describe using a neologism: geneticophobia. There is an irrational attitude against genetic studies aiming to unravel the biological history of a given people and to classify any genome population study as "racist". This behaviour should be opposed; science and the scientific study of humankind are the only way we have to reach the socially adequate objective of the maximum of happiness to the largest number of persons.

A tale of agriculturalists and hunter‐gatherers: Exploring the thrifty genotype hypothesis in native South Americans

“…All these factors substantially limit comprehensive investigations. Thus, obtaining research material from these populations remains a challenging task (Salzano, ). This study intends to help fill the gap by providing novel genetic data from populations with distinct modes of subsistence, based on the hypothesis that cultural practices leave marks in their metabolic genetic background by exerting selective pressures on populations (Laland et al, ).…”

História demográfica e evolutiva humana e de outros primatas: contribuições do laboratório de pesquisa fundado por Francisco Mauro Salzano

“…Esses documentos forneceram diretrizes que inspiraram muitos procedimentos, normativas e leis posteriores, e que incluem: respeito à privacidade dos voluntários, bem como conforto e bem-estar dos mesmos; acesso a serviços médicos, odon-tológicos e outros serviços biomédicos; explicações claras sobre possíveis desdobramentos da pesquisa e respeito à integridade cultural da população investigada. Continuou se preocupando com a ética nas pesquisas e no avanço de discursos anti-ciência ao longo de sua carreira, como pode ser observado em várias de suas obras [3].…”

Foreword

“…In addition, to this day, these small and isolated communities survive mainly by hunter-gatherer strategies, speaking rare native languages, and holding to their own beliefs, which substantially limit our attempts at comprehensive investigations. Along with these limiting factors, obtaining research material from these populations remains a challenging task (see, for instance, Salzano 2015). Thus, we use convenience samples-in other words, those previously studied for anthropologic and genetic studies with classical markers, such as blood groups.…”