Accra-based Yemaachi Biotech aims to sequence 15,000 cancer genomes from African patients over the next three years through the African Cancer Atlas (TACA), a consortium that includes more than 25 hospitals and research institutes in 9 African countries. People of African descent are underrepresented in the genomic datasets that underpin cancer diagnosis, treatment and drug development globally: they represent less than 2%, compared to nearly 80% for people of North American and European ancestry. Yemaachi recruited Roche as TACA’s first flagship partner.
Agbiotech startup Neocrop Technologies has developed fiber-rich wheat in partnership with seed companies Campex Baer and Argentina’s Buck Semillas. Chile’s agricultural regulator confirms that the new wheat line, developed with CRISPR technology, will not be classified as GMO, paving the way for field trials without further regulatory barriers and making it the first genetically modified wheat in the Americas to receive such a green light. The wheat range has up to ten times the dietary fiber content of conventional wheat flour without compromising the flavor and texture of its white flour.
