How's the human rainbow programmed?

Dunno. Our knowledge base remains mostly monochromatic.

Seven scientists just penned pleas in Cell for increased funding — and awareness — around diversity in human genetics research. One alarming statistic: From 2009 to 2016, the percentage of genetic research participants with non-European ancestry included in NIH-supported research increased from 4 percent to 6 percent — despite legislation supporting greater inclusion of underrepresented populations. That’s pretty abysmal — and a sign that talk’s still cheap.

One researcher, Nanibaa’ A. Garrison of the University of Washington, suggested that having culturally sensitive outreach might help, say, indigenous populations get more comfortable with the idea of genetic sequencing. Xun Xu of the Beijing Genomics Institute gets more technical: “Self-reporting datasets with block-chain technologies could be another interesting alternative to accelerate the generation of genetic data-sets for underrepresented populations,” he writes.