Connecting to Country: an Australian Indigenous Metagenomics Strategy Environmental Scan and Research Gap Report
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Connecting to Country: An Australian Indigenous Metagenomics Strategy Environmental Scan and Research Gap Report December 2020 © Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of Health 2021 Creative Commons Licence This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License available from https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode (“Licence”). You must read and understand the Licence before using any material from this publication. Restrictions The Licence may not give you all the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights (such as publicity, privacy and moral rights) may limit how you use the material found in this publication. The Licence does not cover, and there is no permission given for, use of any of the images, diagrams or maps found in this publication. 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Enquiries Enquiries regarding any other use of this publication should be addressed to the Branch Manager, Communication Branch, Department of Health, GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, or via e-mail to [email protected] Authors: Professor Kerry Arabena, Chris Holland and Lauren Penny Managing editor: Jane Yule @ Brevity Comms Editor: Cathy Edmonds For citation: Arabena, K., Holland, C. & Penny, L. 2020, Connecting to Country: An Australian Indigenous Metagenomics Strategy, Environmental Scan and Research Gap Report, Karabena Consulting, Melbourne. A note on terminology: Throughout this report, the terms ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ or ‘Indigenous’ are generally used when referring to the First Nations’ peoples of Australia. Professional disclosure statement: This report was completed by Karabena Consulting for the consideration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group on Genomics. It has been prepared in good faith based on the research and information available to Karabena Consulting at the date of publication without any independent verification, and may not be accurate, complete or up to date. Before using any part of this report, users must obtain independent professional advice to determine the suitability of the content of this report for their intended use. ii Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................................... vii Summary .................................................................................................................................... xi Why do we need an Australian Indigenous Metagenomics Strategy? .............................................. xi Environmental scan ........................................................................................................................... xii Gap analysis report ............................................................................................................................ xii Recommendations............................................................................................................................ xiii 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Post-2010 scope of the environmental scan and gap analysis report ................................................2 What is metagenomics and how can it help to close the gap?...........................................................2 A call for Indigenous leadership in metagenomics ............................................................................4 A note on terminology ........................................................................................................................5 2 Background: metagenomics within whole ecologies ................................................................. 6 Theoretical approaches to develop a metagenomics strategy linked to whole ecologies .................7 Recognising that Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews are different .....................................7 Australian Indigenous science ....................................................................................................8 Multidimensional worldviews ....................................................................................................9 Eco-patterning and lived experiences ..................................................................................... 10 Transitioning from monocultured actions to stewardship in genetic research agenda setting ...... 11 Locating Indigenous metagenomic research: a ‘best of both worlds’ approach ............................. 12 Best of both worlds: cultural, social and emotional wellbeing research strategies................ 13 Best of both worlds: sustainability, stewardship and the threat to ecological communities . 14 Best of both worlds: trauma and epigenetic healing .............................................................. 17 Best of both worlds: a cardiometabolic healing research agenda .......................................... 18 Best of both worlds: seeking sustainable relationships .......................................................... 19 The intention of the Australian Indigenous Metagenomics Strategy .............................................. 20 3 Methods and methodology ................................................................................................... 21 Environmental scan .......................................................................................................................... 21 Gap analysis report ........................................................................................................................... 22 Literature review .............................................................................................................................. 22 Search strategy inclusions and exclusions ............................................................................... 22 Stakeholder interviews ..................................................................................................................... 23 4 Environmental scan ............................................................................................................... 24 Research initiatives focusing on Australian Indigenous people’s health genomics ........................ 24 Australian heritage: constructing the first Aboriginal reference genome .............................. 25 Better Indigenous Genetic (BIG) Health Services .................................................................... 25 Population Variation Project.................................................................................................... 26 iii Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Genome Project ............................................................ 26 Trails of migration out of Africa in harmful mutations of the First Peoples ........................... 27 Adaptation and diversification of the First Peoples of Sahul .................................................. 27 Genetic variants introduced by Europeans and other groups into the genomes of the Aboriginal Australian population ............................................................................................. 27 Aboriginal Heritage Project ...................................................................................................... 27 Investigating the evolution of innate and adaptive cellular immunity ................................... 28 Additional research projects influencing Australian Indigenous genomic initiatives ............. 28 Summary of key points ............................................................................................................ 30 Research projects that are being, or could be, translated to enhance clinical genomics services . 30 Achieving equity in genomic health for Indigenous Australians ............................................. 31 Genomic architecture of chronic disease in Australia’s First Peoples ..................................... 31 Understanding and overcoming cardiovascular and diabetes inequalities in Indigenous Australians ............................................................................................................................... 32 Our MOB (Our Mind Our Brain) dementia prevention across the life course with Aboriginal Australians .............................................................................................................. 32 Translating molecular research into clinical applications to control scabies .......................... 32 Contribution of carbohydrate