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Bloodlines and reconciliation
27 May 2021
A new memorial consisting of burial poles at ANU marks another important step in making sure Indigenous Australians have a say about how their genetics are used by science.
Two years ago, Ms Azure Hermes took on a unique role at The Australian National University (ANU), finding a home for thousands of Indigenous blood samples that are not in the right place.
Many of the samples have been sitting at ANU for 50 years. Ms Hermes is making sure they get back to where they came from.
My family is in this collection. These samples are like my own flesh and blood, Ms Hermes, Deputy Director of the ANU National Centre for Indigenous Genomics (NCIG), says.
2National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
3Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
4Precision Medicine, Platform on Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare, World Economic Forum, San Francisco, CA, United States
5Institute of Genetics, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada
6Human Metabolomics, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
7Facultad de Medicina, Center for Genetics and Genomics, Clinica Alemana Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile
8Institute of Health Management, Southern Medical University, Guangdong, China
9KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
10Rare Diseases South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa