S Schnorr @schnorrax & A Crittenden @an_crittenden presented an impressive approach to the ethics of science & field work that embodies our motto #HometoTheorythatMatters. Thread below summarizes messages important for anyone working with vulnerable populations! #KLIColloquium 
The push across scientific disciplines to collect biological samples outside of #WEIRD societies (western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) has led to an increase in research teams collecting bio-specimen data from an ever-expanding global participant pool. /1
Many of the most sampled populations are from low income countries in the #GlobalSouth – many are Indigenous and marginalized. It is the responsibility of the scientist(s) to acknowledge this and communicate the benefits of their work (or lack thereof) to the community. /2
While human #microbiome research is surging ahead in scientific advances, it is woefully behind in understanding the ethical responsibilities from work with bio-specimens. /3
Microbiome research lacks clear universal guidelines on handling the unprecedented combination of #bigdata, big computation, translational therapeutic potential, and community or cross-cultural science. /4
Schnorr & Crittenden call for a stop to the assemblage of small-scale societies to round out comparative biological research. They urge scientists to justify the inclusion of these societies other than adding one more Indigenous or “traditional” data point to their biobank. /5
In 2015, under the shade of a baobab tree, one of Crittenden’s long-time research participants told her something that would change her life and the course of her career. The #Hadza woman complained to Crittenden about all of the bio-specimens being collected in her community. /6
She complained of all the microbiome researchers who didn’t speak Swahili and who collected parts of their bodies for reasons that they did not understand or care about. She complained of providing sample after sample to stranger after stranger -breast milk, urine, feces, hair /7
After that day, Crittenden vowed to never collect bio-specimen data again that wasn’t relevant to the community. She was not a part of the microbiome research team being discussed – but she recognized that even her own past research was extractive. /8
Now, five years later, she works with the community on collaborative projects – many of which the Hadza themselves have requested her to research. The most recent is a study on the effects of ecological change and market integration on diet. /9
Schnorr presents a parable of the gardener and the scientist: Is a new shovel a fair trade for access to material that allows for game changing scientific breakthroughs that become commoditized into lucrative health products, and for a lifelong successful scientific career? /10
To sum up: if you collaborate with-work with, publish with, handle samples from, obtain grants with, are hired by– or in essence if you benefit from human-participant field research, then you are accountable for its ethical compliance: Return results, compensate equitably. /11
If your livelihood is enabled by handling human biological data collected for purposes external to the needs and desires expressed by the donor community, then equitability demands that you reciprocate livelihood-enabling compensation. /end
Follow ups: Working with researchers like @schnorrax & @an_crittenden, the #Hadza are now building capacities to take ownership over their data and guide how they will work with researchers. Follow NPO/NGO @olanakwe to learn more!
When looking at microbiome analyses, it is important to know the human faces & bodies behind the data! @schnorrax's work on diet & the microbiota instigated her deep dive into bioethics & meta-research issues. A great starting point to follow her science: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
