ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Keolu Fox - Geneticist, indigenous rights activist
Keolu Fox explores the links between human genetic variation and disease in underrepresented populations.

Why you should listen

Keolu Fox's research interests include genome sequencing technologies, genome editing and indigenizing medical research. Fox is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences working with experts at Bloodworks Northwest, in Seattle, WA. His work focuses on the application of genome sequencing to increase compatibility for blood transfusion therapy and organ transplantation.

Along with fellow indigenous geneticists Katrina Claw (PhD) and Joe Yracheta, Fox co-founded IndiGenomics, a tribal non-profit organization with a mission of bringing genomic expertise to indigenous communities, empowering indigenous research capacity and positively contributing to health research with indigenous communities for present and future generations.

Recently Fox's work has been in the international media spotlight, with recognition in outlets such as Wired, the BBC, CBC, NPR, The Atlantic, Forbes, Indian Country Today and others. He was named a TED Fellow in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Keolu Fox | Speaker | TED.com
TED2016

Keolu Fox: Why genetic research must be more diverse

Keolu Fox: Por que a investigación xenética debe ser máis diversa

Filmed:
939,979 views

O 96% dos estudos sobre o xenoma baséanse en poboación de ascendencia europea. O resto practicamente non ten representación, o que é perigoso, en palabras do xenetista e membro TED Keolu Fox, porque dependendo da nosa composición xenética reaccionamos de maneira diferente aos medicamentos. Fox está a traballar na democratización de secuenciación xenómica, promovendo á implicación da poboación indíxena na investigación, co obxectivo de eliminar ás desigualdades sanitarias. Keolu Fox di que "a comunidade científica necesita somerxerse na cultura indíxena, ou morrer no intento".
- Geneticist, indigenous rights activist
Keolu Fox explores the links between human genetic variation and disease in underrepresented populations. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
As a little Hawaiian,
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Cando era cativo,
miña nai e máis miña tía, sempre contaban
historias sobre Kalaupapa
00:14
my mom and auntie always told me
stories about Kalaupapa --
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--a colonia de leprosos hawaiana
00:17
the Hawaiian leper colony
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rodeada polos acantilados
máis altos do mundo--
00:18
surrounded by the highest
sea cliffs in the world --
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e o Padre Damián,
00:21
and Father Damien,
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o misioneiro belga que dedicou a súa vida
á comunidade hawaiana.
00:23
the Belgian missionary who gave his life
for the Hawaiian community.
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Cando era unha enfermeira noviña,
00:27
As a young nurse,
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00:28
my aunt trained the nuns
caring for the remaining lepers
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a miña tía ensinoulles ás monxas
a coidar os leprosos que quedaban
00:31
almost a 100 years after
Father Damien died of leprosy.
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cen anos despois de que o Padre Damián
falecese por mor da lepra.
Lembro as historias que me contaba
00:36
I remember stories she told
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de cando baixaba nunha mula
00:38
about traveling down
switchback cliff paths on a mule,
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polos revirados carreiros dos acantilados,
mentres meu tío tocaba co ukeleke
00:41
while my uncle played
her favorite hula songs on the ukulele
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as súas cancións hula favoritas
de volta a Kalaupapa.
00:44
all the way down to Kalaupapa.
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00:46
You see, as a youngster,
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Cando era novo,
sentía una enorme curiosidade
sobre varias cousas.
00:48
I was always curious about a few things.
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00:50
First was why a Belgian missionary
chose to live in complete isolation
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A primeira, por que un misioneiro belga
escollera vivir completamente illado
00:55
in Kalaupapa,
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en Kalaupapa sabendo que,
00:56
knowing he would inevitably
contract leprosy
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sen dúbida ningunha,
ía contaxiarse de lepra
00:59
from the community of people
he sought to help.
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da comunidade á que pretendía axudar.
01:02
And secondly,
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E a segunda:
01:04
where did the leprosy bacteria come from?
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De onde proviría a bacteria da lepra?
01:07
And why were Kānaka Maoli,
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E por que os Kānaka Maoli,
01:08
the indigenous people of Hawaii,
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o pobo indíxena de Hawaii,
01:11
so susceptible to developing
leprosy, or "mai Pake?"
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eran tan propensos a contraer a lepra,
tamén chamada "Mai Pake"?
01:15
This got my curious about what
makes us unique as Hawaiians --
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Todo isto provocou en min curiosidade
sobre o que nos fai únicos aos hawaianos
ou sexa, o noso perfil xenético.
01:19
namely, our genetic makeup.
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Pero non foi ata o instituto
cando me decatei,
01:22
But it wasn't until high school,
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01:24
through the Human Genome Project,
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a través do Proxecto Xenoma Humano,
01:26
that I realized I wasn't alone
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que non era o único que tentaba
01:28
in trying to connect
our unique genetic ancestry
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conectar a nosa orixe xenética
01:31
to our potential health,
wellness and illness.
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cos nosos potenciais de
enfermidade, saúde e benestar.
Cabía esperar que,
01:36
You see,
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tras os 2700 millóns de dólares
investidos no proxecto, comezase unha era
01:37
the 2.7 billion-dollar project
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01:39
promised an era of predictive
and preventative medicine
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de medicina preditiva e preventiva
baseada no noso perfil xenético único.
01:43
based on our unique genetic makeup.
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01:45
So to me it always seemed obvious
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Para min, sempre fora obvio
01:47
that in order to achieve this dream,
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que para alcanzar este soño,
01:50
we would need to sequence
a diverse cohort of people
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necesitariamos secuenciar
unha cohorte de individuos ampla
para obter un espectro completo
da variación xenética humana no planeta.
01:54
to obtain the full spectrum
of human genetic variation on the planet.
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01:58
That's why 10 years later,
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Por iso, dez anos máis tarde
02:00
it continues to shock me,
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segue a impresionarme
02:02
knowing that 96 percent of genome studies
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saber que o 96% dos estudos
sobre o xenoma
que relacionan as variacións xenéticas
comúns con enfermidades concretas
02:05
associating common genetic variation
with specific diseases
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02:09
have focused exclusively
on individuals of European ancestry.
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centráronse soamente
en individuos de ascendencia europea.
Non se necesita un doutoramento
02:14
Now you don't need a PhD
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02:15
to see that that leaves four percent
for the rest of diversity.
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para ver que queda
só o 4% para o resto da diversidade.
02:19
And in my own searching,
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E na miña propia investigación,
02:21
I've discovered that far less
than one percent
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descubrín que moito menos do un por cento
02:23
have actually focused on indigenous
communities, like myself.
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se centrou en comunidades indíxenas
como a miña.
02:27
So that begs the question:
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Polo tanto propóñovos esta pregunta:
02:29
Who is the Human Genome
Project actually for?
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Para quen se deseñou
o Proxecto Xenoma Humano?
Igual que temos ollos e cabelo diferentes,
02:32
Just like we have
different colored eyes and hair,
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metabolizamos os fármacos
de forma diferente
02:35
we metabolize drugs differently
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02:36
based on the variation in our genomes.
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en función da variación do noso xenoma.
02:38
So how many of you
would be shocked to learn
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Entón, como reaccionariades ao saber
que o 95% dos ensaios clínicos
02:42
that 95 percent of clinical trials
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02:45
have also exclusively featured
individuals of European ancestry?
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inclúen só individuos de orixe europea?
02:50
This bias
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Este nesgo,
02:51
and systematic lack of engagement
of indigenous people
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e a falta continuada de compromiso
coa poboación indíxena
02:55
in both clinical trials
and genome studies
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tanto nos ensaios clínicos
como nos estudos do xenoma,
02:58
is partially the result
of a history of distrust.
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é en parte o resultado da desconfianza.
03:02
For example,
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Por poñer un exemplo,
en 1989 investigadores
da Universidade Estatal de Arizona (UEA)
03:04
in 1989, researchers
from Arizona State University
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03:08
obtained blood samples
from Arizona's Havasupai tribe,
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recolleron mostras de sangue
da tribo havasupai en Arizona,
03:11
promising to alleviate the burden
of type 2 diabetes
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prometéndolles aliviar a carga
que a diabetes tipo 2
03:14
that was plaguing their community,
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estaba a provocar na súa comunidade,
03:16
only to turn around and use
those exact same samples --
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pero logo deron media volta
e usaron esas mostras
--sen o consentimento dos havasupai--
03:20
without the Havasupai's consent --
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03:22
to study rates
of schizophrenia, inbreeding,
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para investigar a incidencia
da esquizofrenia e a endogamia
03:25
and challenge
the Havasupai's origin story.
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e así cuestionar
as orixes históricas dos havasupai.
03:29
When the Havasupai found out,
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Cando os havasupai descubriron isto,
interpuxeron unha demanda
e obtiveron 700.000 dólares,
03:31
they sued successfully for $700,000,
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03:35
and they banned ASU from conducting
research on their reservation.
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ademais de prohibir á UEA realizar
investigacións na súa reserva.
03:40
This culminated in a sort of domino effect
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Isto provocou un efecto dominó
que levaría ás tribos locais do suroeste
03:44
with local tribes in the Southwest --
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--entre outras o pobo navajo,
03:46
including the Navajo Nation,
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unha das maiores tribos do país--
a suspender a investigación xenética.
03:47
one of the largest
tribes in the country --
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03:49
putting a moratorium on genetic research.
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A día de hoxe, e a pesar
desta historia de desconfianza,
03:51
Now despite this history of distrust,
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sigo a crer que a poboación indíxena
03:54
I still believe that indigenous people
can benefit from genetic research.
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pode beneficiarse
da investigación xenética
E se non facemos algo axiña,
03:59
And if we don't do something soon,
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04:01
the gap in health disparities
is going to continue to widen.
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as desigualdades no ámbito sanitario
seguirán aumentando.
04:05
Hawaii, for example,
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Hawai, por exemplo,
ten maior esperanza de vida
que ningún outro estado dos EE. UU.,
04:06
has the longest life expectancy
on average of any state in the US,
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pero aínda así
os hawaianos nativos coma min,
04:10
yet native Hawaiians like myself
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04:13
die a full decade
before our non-native counterparts,
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morremos unha década antes
cós nosos veciños non nativos,
04:16
because we have some
of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes,
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porque temos un dos índices máis altos
de diabetes tipo 2,
de obesidade
04:20
obesity,
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e pola primeira e segunda causas
de morte nos EE. UU.:
04:21
and the number one and number
two killers in the US:
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problemas cardiovasculares e cancro.
04:24
cardiovascular disease and cancer.
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Así que, como garantir
04:25
So how do we ensure
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que as poboacións con maior necesidade
de secuenciación do seu xenoma
04:27
the populations of people
that need genome sequencing the most
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non son as últimas en beneficiarse?
04:30
are not the last to benefit?
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04:32
My vision is to make
genetic research more native,
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O meu enfoque é facer
a investigación xenética máis nativa,
adaptando a tecnoloxía de secuenciación
á poboación indíxena.
04:37
to indigenize genome
sequencing technology.
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04:40
Traditionally, genomes
are sequenced in laboratories.
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Hai anos, era costume que os xenomas
se secuenciaran nos laboratorios.
04:44
Here's an image of your classic
genome sequencer.
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Aquí hai unha imaxe dun secuenciador
do xenoma clásico.
04:47
It's huge.
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É enorme,
04:48
It's the size of a refrigerator.
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do tamaño dun refrixerador.
04:50
There's this obvious physical limitation.
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Está claro que isto
é unha limitación física.
04:53
But what if you could sequence
genomes on the fly?
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Pero, que pasaría se puidésemos secuenciar
xenomas sobre a marcha?
04:57
What if you could fit a genome
sequencer in your pocket?
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Poderiamos adaptar un secuenciador
para que colla nun peto?
05:03
This nanopore-based sequencer
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Este secuenciador de nanoporos
05:06
is one 10,000th the size
of your traditional genome sequencer.
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é 10000 veces máis pequeno
que o tradicional.
05:10
It doesn't have the same
physical limitations,
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Este non ten limitacións físicas,
05:13
in that it's not tethered to a lab bench
with extraneous cords,
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non está conectado por cables
a unha mesa de laboratorio,
a grandes recipientes de substancias
ou a pantallas de ordenador.
05:17
large vats of chemicals
or computer monitors.
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05:20
It allows us to de-black box genome
sequencing technology development
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Isto permite desenvolver
a tecnoloxía secuenciadora
05:25
in way that's immersive and collaborative,
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dunha maneira envolvente e cooperativa,
05:28
activating and empowering
indigenous communities ...
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habilitando e estimulando
ás poboacións indíxenas
05:32
as citizen scientists.
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como científicos de a pé.
05:35
100 years later in Kalaupapa,
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Agora mesmo,
100 anos máis tarde en Kalaupapa,
05:37
we now have the technology to sequence
leprosy bacteria in real time,
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temos a tecnoloxía para secuenciar
a bacteria da lepra en tempo real,
05:41
using mobile genome sequencers,
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usando secuenciadores portátiles,
05:44
remote access to the Internet
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conectados remotamente á Internet
05:47
and cloud computation.
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e mais á nube.
05:50
But only if that's what
Hawaiian people want.
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Pero sempre e cando isto sexa
o que os hawaianos queren.
05:54
In our space,
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No noso espazo,
05:55
on our terms.
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coas nosas condicións.
05:58
IndiGenomics is about science
for the people by the people.
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IndiGenomics baséase na ciencia
da xente para a xente.
06:04
We'll be starting with a tribal
consultation resource,
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Comezaremos primeiro
polo asesoramento das tribos,
06:08
focused on educating
indigenous communities
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baseándonos na formación
das comunidades indíxenas
06:11
on the potential use and misuse
of genetic information.
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sobre o uso potencial e indebido
da información xenética.
Co tempo gustaríanos ter o noso
instituto de investigación Indigenomics,
06:14
Eventually we'd like to have our own
IndiGenomics research institute
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para desenvolver
os nosos propios experimentos
06:18
to conduct our own experiments
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06:19
and educate the next generation
of indigenous scientists.
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e formar á seguinte xeración
de investigadores indíxenas.
06:23
In the end,
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Ao final,
é necesario que os indíxenas
06:25
indigenous people need to be partners in
and not subjects of genetic research.
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non sexan simples suxeitos
e tomen parte na investigación xenética.
06:30
And for those on the outside,
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E para aqueles que o ven desde fóra,
06:32
just as Father Damien did,
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como era o caso do padre Damián,
06:34
the research community needs
to immerse itself in indigenous culture
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a comunidade científica
necesita somerxerse na cultura indíxena
06:39
or die trying.
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ou morrer no intento.
06:40
Mahalo.
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Mahalo.
06:42
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Keolu Fox - Geneticist, indigenous rights activist
Keolu Fox explores the links between human genetic variation and disease in underrepresented populations.

Why you should listen

Keolu Fox's research interests include genome sequencing technologies, genome editing and indigenizing medical research. Fox is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences working with experts at Bloodworks Northwest, in Seattle, WA. His work focuses on the application of genome sequencing to increase compatibility for blood transfusion therapy and organ transplantation.

Along with fellow indigenous geneticists Katrina Claw (PhD) and Joe Yracheta, Fox co-founded IndiGenomics, a tribal non-profit organization with a mission of bringing genomic expertise to indigenous communities, empowering indigenous research capacity and positively contributing to health research with indigenous communities for present and future generations.

Recently Fox's work has been in the international media spotlight, with recognition in outlets such as Wired, the BBC, CBC, NPR, The Atlantic, Forbes, Indian Country Today and others. He was named a TED Fellow in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Keolu Fox | Speaker | TED.com