The NIH awarded 23andMe a $1.7 million grant to develop a sequencing panel to address the underrepresentation of minorities, specifically African Americans, in health research.
The company, which markets home genetic spit tests, will sequence the genomes of more than one million customers who have agreed to participate in research. It will create a sequencing panel of African American genomes for use as a reference dataset in health research, according to a statement. The resource will be shared with health researchers worldwide with the goal of inspiring more health research on disease that affects minority populations.
