The indigenous populations as the model by nature to understand human genomic-phenomics interactions

Abstract

Background: The advancement of genomics has progressed in lightning speed over the past two decades. Numerous large-scale genome sequencing initiatives were announced, along with the rise of the holistic precision medicine approach. However, the field of genomic medicine has now come to a bottleneck since genomic-phenomic interactions are not fully comprehended due to the complexity of the human systems biology and environmental influence, hence the emergence of human phenomics. Results: This review attempts to provide an overview of the potential advantages of investigating the human phenomics of indigenous populations and the challenges ahead. Conclusion: We believe that the indigenous populations serve as an ideal model to excavate our understanding of genomic-environmental-phenomics interactions.