ENETICS IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF MEDICAL RESEARCH, but it is rarely used in
Indigenous health-research projects. In the past, proposals to conduct genetic studies in
Indigenous communities in Australia have been highly criticized and rarely funded.
However, genetic researchers worldwide argue that genetics has the potential to reduce
health disparities (including Indigenous health disparities) in multiple ways: through
understanding disease pathogenesis; using genetics to probe environmental risk; predicting …

An essay is presented on the conversations that took place at a roundtable on indigenous
genetic research in Australia hosted by Lowitja Institute. It offers information on the
roundtable which involved aborigines and non-aborigines and aimed to create a community
of interest around aborigine genetic research and promote an ethical collaborative research.
It provides a synthesis of the discussion's main themes and illustrates the potential for
misunderstandings and for finding a common ground.