Widening participation would be key in enhancing bioinformatics and genomics research in Africa

Karikari, Thomas K.; Quansah, Emmanuel; Mohamed, Wael M.Y.

Bioinformatics and genome science (BGS) are relatively new disciplines, gaining importance across the biomedical research, healthcare and agriculture sectors due to their importance in helping to improve the timeliness and accuracy of disease diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, as well as enhancing crop yield (Machuka, 2004; McCarthy et al., 2013; Worku et al., 2005) . While scientifically-advanced countries in North America and Europe have been major leaders in BGS, many developing countries (including some African countries) have made important achievements in applying genomics technologies to enhance biomedical research, healthcare and agriculture (Machuka, 2004; Mitropoulos et al., 2015) . Since the mid-1990s, many African countries have been employing tools and techniques in BGS to help advance scientific research (Bishop et al., 2015; Fatumo et al., 2014; Karikari, 2015a; Lyantagaye, 2013; Masiga and Isokpehi, 2004; Ojo and Omabe, 2011) . BGS research groups have been constituted and studies employing these approaches have been conducted and published by African scientists, helping to improve our understanding of the biological basis of health and disease among humans and non-human species (Bishop et al., 2015; Fatumo et al., 2014; H3Africa Consortium et al., 2014; Karikari, 2015a; Machuka, 2004) . Importantly, scientists in Africa have been applying BGS techniques to address some of the continent's most debilitating challenges, including those of food insecurity, unsustainable agricultural practices and the high disease burden Karikari, 2015a; Machuka, 2004) . For example, some African scientists and their collaborators recently employed genomics technologies to sequence the genome of the tsetsefly, the vector for Human African trypanosomiasisa devastating tropical disease (International Glossina Genome Initiative, 2014) . Also, African researchers were instrumental in the epidemiological characterisation of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) (through whole-genome sequencing) during the recent outbreak in West Africa (Gire et al., 2014) . A major progress in agricultural genomics in Africa was the sequencing of the sorghum genome in 2009 and the recent sequencing of the genomes of forty-four sorghum lines, which demonstrated that genomics diversity and historical domestication differences existed between the lines studied (Mace et al., 2013; Paterson et al., 2009) . Sorghum is a nutrient-rich African crop, with a promise to help improve food security and reduce malnutrition and poverty on the continent (Kelemu et al., 2013) . Being the first indigenous crop in Africa to have had its genome completely sequenced, the findings from these studies provide a vital resource for genetic improvement of sorghum and other cereal crops to enhance crop yield, agricultural productivity and food security (Kelemu et al., 2013) .