Gatekeeping Genetics: Towards a More Diverse, Just, and Inclusive Research Enterprise

Abstract

Science answers the questions researchers ask it. The research enterprise is designed to emphasize the voices internal to it over external voices. This form of gatekeeping loses the richness of diverse perspectives, shaping approaches and priorities in research and the discovery process. While forms of gatekeeping are woven into the fabric of scientific research broadly, the field of human genetics is particularly susceptible to the perils of gatekeeping given a history of research (mis)use and (mis)interpretation. This panel interrogates the ways in which we, as participants in the field of human genetics, might engage in and respond to various forms of complicity in gatekeeping. The overarching objective of this panel is to discuss how to make the field of human genetics more diverse, just, and inclusive and to understand and remedy the current structures and social forces that keep the gates of the field closed to too many. It does so by first bringing together diverse stakeholders in the field to consider gatekeeping in: 1) the recruitment and retention of researchers of color in genetics; 2) the inclusion of communities who have been most harmed by the antecedents of current research in human genetics; 3) the academic publishing enterprise. However, this panel moves beyond a simple discussion of whether and how gatekeeping perpetuates inequality in human genetics to explore, along a number of dimensions, the social and ethical implications of gatekeeping in genetics. Alongside audience members, panels will engage in a productive dialogue on how to identify and implement practical solutions to gatekeeping in our field.