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Bridging the gap in African biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics

Nature Biotechnology volume 41, pages 1348–1354 (2023)Cite this article

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The Open Institute of the African BioGenome Project empowers African scientists and institutions with the skill sets, capacity and infrastructure to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and drive economic growth.

Africa, a continent of 1.3 billion people, had 326 researchers per million people in 20181,2, whereas the global average for the number of researchers per million people is 1,3681,2. Nevertheless, a strong research community is a requirement to advance scientific knowledge and innovation and drive economic growth3,4. This low number of researchers extends to scientific research across Africa and applies to genomic projects such as the African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) (https://africanbiogenome.org/)5.

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Fig. 1: The African BioGenome Project will leverage four programs to achieve its goals.
Fig. 2: The AfricaBP Open Institute will operate a distributed model.
Fig. 3: Participant representation for the first AfricaBP Open Institute workshop on endemic African species.
Fig. 4: Response of pre-workshop survey of the AfricaBP workshop on genomic technologies and infrastructures to identify skill needs of African researchers and genomic gaps in Africa.
Fig. 5: Responses of post-workshop survey to evaluate impact and outcome of the AfricaBP workshop on genomic technologies and infrastructures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank N. Mulder of the University of Cape Town and M. Blaxter of the Wellcome Sanger Institute for helping to review and provide feedback on the initial draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SequAna Core Facility, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Abdoallah Sharaf

  2. Genetic Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

    Abdoallah Sharaf

  3. Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

    Charlotte C. Ndiribe

  4. Biotechnology Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Nigeria

    Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun

  5. A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria

    Taiwo Crossby Omotoriogun

  6. Vertebrate Genome Lab, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

    Linelle Abueg & Giulio Formenti

  7. Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, Morocco

    Bouabid Badaoui

  8. African Sustainable Agriculture Research Institute, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Laâyoune, Morocco

    Bouabid Badaoui

  9. Rutgers University, School of Graduate Studies, Newark, NJ, USA

    Fatu J. Badiane Markey

  10. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Girish Beedessee

  11. Laboratoire Campus de Biotechnologies Végétales, Département de Biologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal

    Diaga Diouf

  12. Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

    Vincent C. Duru

  13. Finima Nature Park, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

    Chukwuike Ebuzome

  14. Department of Isotope Biogeochemistry, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Samuel C. Eziuzor

  15. Department of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Yasmina Jaufeerally Fakim

  16. Bioinformatics Lab, Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Nidhal Ghanmi

  17. Laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immunobiology of Infections, Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Fatma Zahra Guerfali

  18. University of Tunis El Manar, University Campus Farhat Hached, Tunis, Tunisia

    Fatma Zahra Guerfali

  19. Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health, Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Isidore Houaga & Appolinaire Djikeng

  20. Genomics Research Center, AbbVie, North Chicago, IL, USA

    Justin Eze Ideozu

  21. International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya

    Sally Mueni Katee, Cathrine Ziyomo & Appolinaire Djikeng

  22. Biotechnology Research Unit, CRRA-Rabat, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Rabat, Morocco

    Slimane Khayi

  23. Bioinformatics Center, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Josiah O. Kuja

  24. Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Federal University of Lafia, Lafia, Nigeria

    Emmanuel Hala Kwon-Ndung

  25. Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Rose A. Marks

  26. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Rose A. Marks

  27. Inqaba Biotec, Menlo Park, Pretoria, South Africa

    Acclaim M. Moila

  28. Digital Technologies Department, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius

    Zahra Mungloo-Dilmohamud

  29. School of Life Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Sadik Muzemil

  30. Department of Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Helen Nigussie

  31. University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

    Julian O. Osuji

  32. Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, CIDRI Africa Wellcome Trust Centre, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Verena Ras

  33. Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Verena Ras

  34. Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences Technology and Innovation, Nairobi, Kenya

    Yves H. Tchiechoua

  35. Department of Crop Sciences and Biotechnology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, South Korea

    Yedomon Ange Bovys Zoclanclounon

  36. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa

    Krystal A. Tolley

  37. Centre for Ecological Genomics and Wildlife Conservation, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Krystal A. Tolley

  38. Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Florida, South Africa

    Ntanganedzeni Mapholi & Appolinaire Djikeng

  39. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya

    Anne W. T. Muigai

  40. National Defense University–Kenya, Nakuru, Kenya

    Anne W. T. Muigai

  41. European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Cambridge, UK

    ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer

  42. Early Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer

Authors
  1. Abdoallah Sharaf
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  2. Charlotte C. Ndiribe
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  34. Anne W. T. Muigai
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  36. ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Anne W. T. Muigai, Appolinaire Djikeng or ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer.

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Competing interests

A.M. is an employee of Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd. J.E.I. is an employee of AbbVie.

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Sharaf, A., Ndiribe, C.C., Omotoriogun, T.C. et al. Bridging the gap in African biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics. Nat Biotechnol 41, 1348–1354 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-01933-2

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