GFANZ Council made a submission to the Gene Technology Bill 2024 noting significant flaws and omissions in the bill. We clearly acknowledge the potential utility of modern gene technologies for all people in Aotearoa. At the same time, we have serious concerns in regards to this bill around Māori rights and interests, honoring te Tiriti,…
This Special Issue: skúkum tílixam: Uniting to Support Indigenous Contributions to Molecular Ecology was co-edited by GFANZ council alumna Dr. Alana Alexander. There are great research articles, thoughtful insights, and useful resources. Most of the articles are open access, so anyone can read them. Excellent issue highlighting the work of Indigenous researchers in molecular ecology.
The following was submitted by GFANZ on Tuesday the 7th of January 2025. Comments: GFANZ is writing in complete opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill and recommends for it to be dropped without further activitity. Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand (GFANZ) is a charitable organisation whose purpose is to promote the use of genomic science…
11th November 2024 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand (GFANZ) is a charitable organisation whose purpose is to promote the use of genomic science for the benefit of all society. GFANZ affirms its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and upholding Te Tiriti O Waitangi…
Data sharing is common practice amongst genomics researchers. So is not sharing. Open Science principles can be (and are) applied in ways that diminish or ignore benefit sharing. Māori communities may want to have control over access, use, and downstream benefits to their genetic data (human and taonga species). Is it technically possible to honor…
This is a new open-source database for sharing human viral pathogen genomic data. They aim to increase international collaboration and improve public health responses. To learn more or use the database, check out their web site: https://pathoplexus.org.
Last month, Julien Gaspar, Steve A. Trewick, and Gillian C. Gibb published the paper De-novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics. It is open access for everyone to read. The publishing of this work is a milestone for the GFANZ cloud bioinformatics platform project. By using the GFANZ infrastructure,…
“We had a kōrero about the rarity of Wharekura and about how us taking her to be studied benefits not only marine science and everybody in Aotearoa, but us as a people, too, so we can understand more about what’s happening here in our own water. Having a taonga like Wharekura washed up so young…
Tahu Kukutai and Amanda Black argue that researchers must do much better in honoring the kaitiaki rights of Māori regarding the protection of indigenous nonhuman genomic data. Their work CARE-ing for Indigenous nonhuman genomic data — rethinking our approach was publish in the journal Science recently. This piece is well researched, clearly written, and a…
When a person has sovereignty over their own data, they have the ability to control the use of that data. This ability (or lack thereof) has a strong connection with privacy. In terms of genetic or genomic data, much more than most would expect can be learned about the individual whose data it is. A…