Tonight I watched the Population Genomics Showcase Stage from the Nanopore Community Meeting in Singapore 2023. Warren Bach, ONT Senior Strategic Account Manager in Australia, was the moderator. Hardip Patel spoke about Australia’s National Centre for Indigenous Genomics, and Manop Pithukaporn presented on Thailand were the speakers. Hardip Patel from The Australian National University presented on “Australia’s National Centre for Indigenous Genomics: enabling the inclusion of First Nations peoples in genomics.” They are working with indigenous populations in Australia to build reference genomes. The genetic variation of the communities was plotted in a PCA plot highlighting how it clusters separately from other populations. Pithukaporn presented on “Genomics Thailand: a mission to integrate genomic technology into the national health system.”In Thailand, they are focusing on integrating genomics into the healthcare system. The goal is to develop databases for reference and resources for actionable personalized medicine. For example, the national health care system established genomic sequencing for breast cancer patients. Pithukaporn described the limitations of short reads for structural variant identification. Both speakers shared how the methods have improved, allowing rapid sequencing and analysis of genomes. Their cultural programs incorporate technology while making sequencing and database results more accessible.
