African Genomics Can End Trial-and-Error Medicine, SA Professor Says
African Genomics Can End Trial-and-Error Medicine, SA Professor Says
Africa’s vast genetic diversity must be at the center of modern healthcare to make treatments safer and more effective for African patients, Collet Dandara, a leading human geneticist and professor of human genetics at the University of Cape Town, told Sputnik Africa.
He explained that most drugs and diagnostic tests are developed using European data, even though “the genetic diversity that you find from outside of the continent is very narrow compared from that that you'll find in the continent.”
As a result, medicines can work differently—or cause harmful side effects—among African patients.
An African genome, he noted, contains nearly a million more genetic variants than non-African genomes, which affects how people metabolize drugs and respond to treatment.
Key points from Professor Dandara:
European-based tests often “miss the specific mutations that you find in African populations.”
Genomics is helping doctors understand why “some patients respond well and some don't” to the same drug.
African biobanks are being built to identify unique cancer driver genes and improve early detection.
“We need to move our genetics from the high-tech labs” to ordinary clinics by simplifying data, making it easier for health workers and patients to understand, and speeding up testing so results can be used quickly in everyday care.
Africa must strengthen local manufacturing and research infrastructure to reduce delays.
Looking ahead, he envisions a shift toward preventive, personalized care:
“Healthcare on the continent should move away from the current trial and error medicine to be replaced by the use of our genetics.”
By 2063, he hopes African clinics will use genetic information to guide lifestyle choices, detect disease early, and deliver targeted treatments—allowing doctors to “not just treat my symptoms but to treat my story which is written in my genes.”
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