ABOVE: The Sanger Institute
FLICKR, TEMPORALATA
The Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK had planned to commercialize a genetics array based on African DNA samples, whistleblowers allege, which would have violated the terms of agreements for using the materials, The Times reports. Two universities in Africa have condemned any commercial endeavors using the samples, some of which came from indigenous tribes.
“This conduct of the Wellcome Sanger Institute raises serious legal and ethical consequences,” Stellenbosch University in South Africa wrote to Sanger Director Mike Stratton in March, according to The Times.
Whistleblower complaints and documents reviewed by the news outlet indicate that Sanger had discussed a deal with Thermo Fisher to sell an array for investigating the genetic influence behind diseases in Africa and had 75,000 produced. Yet, according to The Times, the DNA samples used in the design of the arrays were obtained with the promise that they would be ...
