Love your microbiome

This animation was about part of a project that aimed to identify First Peoples protocols for the ethical collection, storage and preservation of microbe sampling and epigenetic analysis.

The animation was developed by Research Fellow Dr Sharon Huebner with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s Professor Len Harrison and animator Mr Andres Gomez Isaza.

Supported by the the Lowitja Institute the 'Ethics and protocols for a family-based microbiome study and social health history project' aimed to establish Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement strategies, communication tools and ethics for a future First Peoples microbiome study and social health history project.

The project also examined and reviewed the national and international frameworks of genomic research institutes engaging First Peoples senior knowledge holders and families in the governance of bioscientific cultural repositories.

The key objective of the review was to map First Peoples leadership in describing and responding to historically collected biological samples and genetic data, and to define the ways in which contemporary social practices and cultural knowledge might support a culturally led project with long-term benefits to the health and wellbeing of First Peoples families.

Read more about this project on the Lowitja Institute website.