Engaging with Local Communities in Botswana: Understanding Cultural Values, norms and Beliefs that may impact Genome-Editing Research in Botswana
Wellcome Trust
University of Botswana
The continuous growth and recent technical advances that have improved the precision, cost and simplicity of new gene editing technologies such as Somatic and germline therapy have since given birth to new hope in the fight against the burden of disease such as HIV in developing countries (sources). Despite facing dis-proportionally higher prevalence HIV rates, communities in Botswana to our knowledge the technologies have not been tried hence Batswana remain understudied in gene editing research. Therefore, I am proposing a study to engage with local communities to educate them about gene-editing technology research and collect their perspectives on how their cultural values norms and beliefs can have positive or negative implications on their benefiting from this technology.   1. The overall goal of the project is to explore the perceptions of communities in Botswana regarding perceived and real social ethical issues (cultural values, norms and beliefs) surrounding gene-editing technologies regarding its use for health benefits?    2. The project also aims to empower communities with knowledge through education and engagement about gene-editing technology for better informed decisions in preparation for participation in gene-editing technologies as well as learning about its potential benefits, risks and use of genomics, gene-editing technologies.
8.3 Policy, ethics and research governance