Inside Nigeria’s genomics boom

Nigeria is quickly becoming a hub for genetics research. Private investments are flowing into the country in support of companies such as 54Gene, which has set out to build the largest biobank in Africa, according to a February 19 article in Nature.

The article prominently featured the work of Nigerian microbiologist Christian Happi, a visiting scientist in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Happi is presently leading the creation of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, considered the most advanced genomics facility in West Africa. Happi said he hopes to see the research facility emerge as a leader in precision medicine.

Read the Nature article: The next chapter for African genomics