SEATTLE -- Researchers who are mapping the human genetic code have used such a narrow pool of samples that the results may primarily benefit whites, contends a University of Maryland anthropologist.
"The overwhelming majority of the genes being sequenced come from a very limited number of North Atlantic European American lineages," said Fatimah Jackson, professor of anthropology and zoology at the University of Maryland College Park.
She spoke at a panel on the Human Genome Project in the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which concluded this week in Seattle.
Jackson said European DNA will be regarded as "normal" while genetic differences found later in other peoples will be regarded as variations from the norm, even though they might have come first or be more common.
If the $30 billion, federally funded effort "is to be directly relevant to African-Americans, it must shift to a new, inclusive structure," Jackson cautioned. "Otherwise African-Americans and others will have been asked to support a project that benefits a privileged few."
Scientists have been studying samples taken from 10 to 15 people, analyzing their DNA, the material that contains the instructions for making a human being. By 2005, researchers expect to map all 100,000 genes to form a composite portrait of the subjects' genetic code.
Although the United States contributes to the cost of the complex task, the effort is a multinational one that began in the mid-1980s. For example, a French team in March published part of its findings in the journal Nature.
Eventually the map is expected to help scientists pinpoint and perhaps someday cure diseases triggered by faulty genes.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, said in an interview that diversity is not essential during the current phase of the project. "When it comes to determining a reference sequence of all the human DNA, the ethnic origin of the individuals being sampled is a relatively minor point," he said, "since the focus is on the 99.9 percent of the DNA that's identical among all of us."
Referring to the part of DNA used to track inherited traits, Collins said, "When you're talking about looking at genetic markers, then it's a much better point."
And, he continued: "When you're talking about disease susceptibilities in populations, then it's an excellent point."
