Cape Town - The 14th International Congress of Human Genetics (ICHG 2023) saw a well-represented and diverse group of over 1 200 researchers, scientists and students from what seemed to be every part of the world converge at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) to deliberate over the latest research and developments in human genetics.
Themed “Coming Home”, it was the first time the ICHG was held on the African continent, with the crammed 5-day programme opening on Wednesday.
ICHG 2023 is hosted by the African Society of Human Genetics, the Southern African Society of Human Genetics, and the International Federation of Human Genetics Societies.
Genetics can be described as the field of study of genes and heredity, and how certain traits and characteristics are inherited by offspring from their parents. Human genetics can also shed light on human behaviour, the promotion of health and prevention of diseases.
International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor delivered the welcoming address.
“I do not need to remind this audience of the importance of including African populations in large-scale studies, especially because the indigenous populations of Africa harbour the greatest depth of genomics variation.”
Pandor said the role of genomics played a crucial role in tracking and understanding Covid-19 and the pandemic.
Conference Organising Committee co-chair and UCT Division of Human Genetics Head Professor Raj Ramesar said: “The field of genomics internationally is very important, whether you’re talking about its use in agriculture, health sciences, animal husbandry or whatever.
“In this instance, we have a particular interest in human health and genetics and genomics because genomics is a very important tool in terms of understanding what in our inherent material goes wrong to produce a particular disorder.”
Bringing the conference to Africa and South Africa was largely for advocacy to generate both information and interest at every level.
“The raising of awareness about genomics and its relevance in healthcare, that’s hugely important because that gets to the government. Because governments are tone deaf generally, not just here but all over the place, and unless the government is interested in developing policies, whatever we’re doing research-wise is not going to get implemented into healthcare, so from that point of view, that’s important – the advocacy.”
In terms of funding, South Africa receives more internal funding for research, compared to other countries in Africa.
UCT student Meleliwe Msipa presented her Master’s thesis at the conference.
A special feature of the ICHG 2023 included presentations on human genetics, ethics, bioinformatics and social implications of genomics and genetic medicine globally, by the Global Young Investigators Forum in Genetics and Genomics, consisting of 100 graduate students and early career researchers.
“Just hearing about how much research has been done to genetics is really interesting as a student. Just seeing how big the world is getting in the field of genetics, meeting all the different companies worldwide, that's also life-changing because as a student you’re trying to look for a job after this so, just seeing what companies are available, what they’re doing, and what they stand for as well, that’s very helpful,” Msipa said.