We're establishing a new institute to advance genomics in Africa

The capacity to sequence and analyse genomes of pathogens without relying on the Global North, leading to faster response to disease threats. The infrastructure and skills to sequence genomes from the African ecosystem, enabling the use of patients’ genetic information to tailor their medical treatments.

These are just some of the potential benefits of establishing the African Bioinformatics Institute (ABI), a proposed non-profit organisation funded by Wellcome and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

The ABI aims to lead the bioinformatics field on the African continent by developing sustainable research infrastructure and streamlining related work. One of its many benefits will be facilitating genomics research that could lead to advancements for human health.

It will build upon the community created by H3ABioNet and other bioinformatics activities on the continent. The institute will cover broader areas of computational biology and data science for life sciences.

“With many data-intensive projects blossoming on the continent, it is timely to develop a pan-African facility that can support the enormous demand for bioinformatics training and support,” says Nicola Mulder, a Professor and Head of the Computational Biology division at the University of Cape Town leading the ABI’s creation.

“The ABI will also connect and stimulate the high-quality bioinformatics research taking place across all sectors of the life sciences in Africa.”

The goal for the ABI is to act as a central hub overseeing work related to life sciences and health data in Africa, with focus areas that include:

• genomic medicine
• pathogen genomics
• computational biology for life sciences like biodiversity

This centralised system will help avoid duplication of efforts with institutions solving the same problems in their own ways.

As an independent research institution, it will provide data training, infrastructure, platforms and analytical services. The idea is that critical research infrastructure will be ready for use whenever it is needed.

The ABI will initially be headquartered at the University of Cape Town. Multiple sites across Africa will then be set up, focusing on work that advances ABI’s mission. Stakeholders across Africa will be consulted to determine the ABI’s future headquarters and regional locations.

Establishing the ABI began on 1 October. They will receive £5.2 million in funding across five years through our Discovery Research Directed Activity alongside £1.2 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

We know that having the capacity to respond more efficiently and effectively to health threats like mpox and cancer is one of the many immediate positive impacts of the ABI. But it also has the potential to become a major driving force for advancing genomics in Africa.

At Wellcome, we believe that the next step for genomics is to diversify its data and enable more participation from both experts and the public around the world. The ABI, with the technology and expertise it brings, could contribute greatly to this.

Most of the genomics data and tools that currently exist were made for European ancestries or genomes. That’s why one of the goals of the ABI is to develop genomics tools that are tailored to African populations and biodiversity.

Improving genomics data so that it includes everyone everywhere could lead to new knowledge and insights that might have major implications for our health.

There are many more possibilities for the ABI – and we won’t be able to anticipate them all. Ultimately, the goal is to create an environment that allows for breakthroughs to take place.

“The ABI is not necessarily about publishing the next breakthrough paper,” says Ekin Bolukbasi, Technology Manager, Data for Science and Health at Wellcome.  

“It’s about providing the skills and data-related infrastructure that can help people publish these breakthrough papers.”