part of genome studies

Health

Nauruans agree to be part of genome studies

By Kalinga Seneviratne

The Republic of Nauru and the Melbourne based International Diabetes Institute (IDI) signed a historic agreement on July 31st which will pave the way for the people of Nauru to be used for a genome studies project to find prevention methods for diabetes, which is afflicting over a third of the Island population.

While some may see this agreement as yet another example of a small developing country’s people being used as guinea pigs for sophisticated scientific research by Western scientists, both the president of Nauru and the head of IDI hail this agree ment as a model for other developing countries in terms of ensuring proper returns for using its citizens in medical research.

IDEs chief executive officer, Professor Paul Zimmet described this as the “first such agreement’ ’ between any research institute to carry out genome studies on the Nauruan population for the next 20 years.

Genome studies is the definition of key genes involved in the cause of disease.

Royalties from any discovery from the study which leads to a commercial out come will be shared with the Nauru gov ernment, which will use the money for the advancement of its people.

After signing the agreement, Nauru’s president Kinza Clodumar said that it “will set new standards for population research,

particularly in developing countries.”

Just 21 sq km, the tiny Island state with a population of just over 5000 people, Nauru is the world’s smallest republic.

The tiny island which was virtually free of diabetes until 1954, has the world’s sec ond highest prevalence of the disease today.

Over 32 percent of Nauruans above 20

years of age suffer from diabetes, which is nearly eight times that for populations in Europe and Australia.

“A major reason for the high rate of dia betes in Nauru has been the change in lifestyle from the former traditional one” says Prof Zimmet, who has been the medi cal advisor to the Nauru Government since 1975.

“The changes in Nauru mirror those throughout the Pacific as formerly tradi tional living populations become urbanised and modernised with a more Western diet of refined carbohydrate and high saturated fat - less physical activity and increasing obesity” he added.

Nauru has not been able to develop an organised agricultural economy due to the poor soil and lack of water catchment areas.

Large scale phosphate mining this cen tury by western powers also killed any chance of developing such agriculture activity in the Island.

Before mining operations began on the island in 1906, the traditional diet of the islanders consisted of coconut products, fish and pandanus, with birds, mainly black noodies, providing extra protein.

Nauruans eating habits gradually changed after that to a low-fibre western diet of imported food.

It started with German traders opening a small store in the Island in the early 19205, selling canned salmon, sugar, rice, biscuits, beer and tobacco, in exchange for copra.

Royalties from mining gave Nauru the world’s highest per capita income by the 19705, which made Western provisions affordable for most of the population.

“The increase in diabetes and other western style diseases in populations such as Nauru’s, has to be seen in the context of globalisation of world economies” argues Prof Zimmet.

Very high rates of obesity, diabetes,

hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, coupled with cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, and other effects and outcomes of subsistence affluence are just part of the “Cocacolonization” process, he notes.

The professor believes that changes to the diet and more exercise alone will not prevent diabetes But he said improvements to the socio economic situation and cultural status of the people in the developing world is nec essary.

Thus he argues that the agreement his institute signed with Nauru to recognise such a process. It is in no way designed to use the people of Nauru as scientific guinea pigs he assures.

“The agreement with Nauru seeks to ensure that if any discovery is made from samples from surveys, the people of Nauru will benefit,” he told PIM.

“Many of the major diseases of western life are due to genetic factors and, or muta tions of genes” he explained. ‘A disease like diabetes may be due to abnomalities at several different metabolic sites in the body which may be determined by different genes.

Genome studies seek to find the gene or genes responsible for diseases such as dia betes.”

These studies could lead to the discov ery of testing methods to pre diagnose dia betes.

By finding the genetic abnomalities, it

may be possible to develop special drugs which targets the metabolic reactions caus ing diabetes.

Prof Zimmet is confident that there would be a positive outcome from IDTs research in Nauru in the next five to seven years.

If it does materialise, the discovery will not only help tens of millions of diabetes sufferers around the world, it could also make Nauru - which is fast exhausting its phosphate deposits - rich again. ■