{"id":494,"date":"2020-11-19T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/?p=494"},"modified":"2020-10-20T10:52:55","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T21:52:55","slug":"genetics-plus-tikanga-equals-potential-for-more-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/genetics-plus-tikanga-equals-potential-for-more-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Genetics Plus Tikanga Equals “Potential for More Good”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hunting, fishing, forestry. Not the first things that spring to mind when you come across the phrase \u201cquantitative genetics\u201d. But that\u2019s until you come across Otago Senior Scientist Phillip Wilcox (Ng\u0101ti Rakaipaaka, Rongomaiwahine, Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu), who is (you guessed it!) a quantitative geneticist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not that Phil himself would have thought that\u2019s where life would lead when he began work with the New Zealand Forest Service after first getting his forestry degree.
\nWith deer culling part of the job description, Phil\u2019s early career is \u2018unusual\u2019 for someone who now lectures in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. But more than that, the work also exposed him to many of the harsh realities of life in some of New Zealand\u2019s more isolated towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy forestry experience [in the Central North Island] put me in small M\u0101ori communities,\u201d<\/em> Phil says. \u201cAnd it left me with a deep sense of the challenges that these communities face.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Fast forward to today\u2014via a PhD at North Carolina State University in the States – and the desire to find \u201cpractical ways of making a difference\u201d<\/em> for M\u0101ori remains one of Phil\u2019s main motivations. And that\u2019s where modern genetic techniques come in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see these technologies as having almost emancipatory power to M\u0101ori communities,\u201d<\/em> Phil explains. \u201cWe\u2019re finding genes that cause or contribute to disease, and some of these genes are specific to M\u0101ori communities. Gene-based interventions can therefore be developed for those communities \u2014 it\u2019s a tool in the kete (basket) that can and has had real benefits.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

One project Phil\u2019s been heavily involved with is cataloguing the DNA variants in M\u0101ori populations to create a \u201cdata set to enable faster disease diagnosis\u201d<\/em>. In fact, analysing this sort of data is what quantitative genetics is all about; for instance, using statistical analysis to estimate disease risk and so \u201chelp people make informed choices\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very practical way of making a difference,\u201d<\/em> Phil says. Indeed, the practical applications of quantitative genetics are so great that many of his students \u201care getting jobs before they graduate.\u00a0<\/em>It\u2019s a data-rich day and age, and having analytical skills is more and more needed for good employment pathways.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But genetics can also provide a pathway linking modern science to traditional tikanga M\u0101ori, Phil reckons, for example in the way that genetics \u201cbroadly aligns with the ancestry aspects of whakapapa\u201d<\/em>. This has allowed scientists like Phil to \u201copen up conversations\u201d<\/em> and design \u201cethical frameworks\u201d<\/em> around genetic research that takes tikanga into account.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been mentored by M\u0101ori community leaders, kaum\u0101tua, with a different view of the world than academics\u2014it\u2019s a wider, more holistic view where they have to deliver solutions for their people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As well as being \u201cinformed and inspired\u201d<\/em> by these M\u0101ori world views, Phil\u2019s also now more appreciative of how tikanga-informed genetics has \u201cthe potential for greater good\u201d.<\/em>
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have to leave tikanga at the door; instead tikanga opens doors,\u201d<\/em> he says. \u201cIt\u2019s been an honour and a privilege to be doing this at the flax roots.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And as for Phil\u2019s own outdoor roots, hunting, diving and fishing still keeps him in touch with whenua and wh\u0101nau, and provides a welcome balance to a busy academic life.<\/p>\n

Written by Mick Whittle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hunting, fishing, forestry. Not the first things that spring to mind when you come across the phrase \u201cquantitative genetics\u201d. But that\u2019s until you come across Otago Senior Scientist Phillip Wilcox (Ng\u0101ti Rakaipaaka, Rongomaiwahine, Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu), who is (you guessed it!) a quantitative geneticist.   Not that Phil himself would have thought that\u2019s where life would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}