The headline number
86.3%
of participants represented in genomic studies were of European ancestry as of June 2021
Source: Nature Medicine · 2022
Genetic knowledge should feelcloser to home.
ìmọ̀ is a UK-based, culture-led genomics brand being built to make ancestry and genetic knowledge more trusted, relevant and accessible.
ìmọ̀Yorùbá · Noun
The meaning
ìmọ̀ means knowledge in Yorùbá.
Knowledge has always existed in our DNA. We just needed someone to look.
ìmọ̀ exists to put that knowledge back where it belongs. In our hands, on our terms, so we get to decide what comes next.
Why we exist
The genomic picture is stillmissing too many of us.
The research shaping genomic science was not built with everyone in mind. These numbers show who has been missing and what becomes possible when they are included.
African representation
1.1%
of participants represented in the same analysis were of African ancestry
Source: Nature Medicine · 2022
The UK picture
1.6%
of UK Biobank participants were recorded as Black or Black British in a published cohort analysis
Source: UK Biobank cohort analysis
What inclusion reveals
3M+
previously undescribed genetic variants uncovered by sequencing 426 people across 50 African ethnolinguistic groups
Source: H3Africa · Nature 2020
The communities most underrepresented in the research are the same communities most likely to be let down by it.
“Trust is not a claim.It is how we build.”