Towards an ethical and legal framework in archeogenomics: A local case in the Atlantic coast of central Patagonia

Abstract

Ethical discussions around ancient DNA (aDNA) research predate the technological breakthroughs that led to the accelerated generation of ancient genomic data, revealing a long-due need to address these aspects in the field. Given the diverse conflicts that genomics has raised towards the communities associated with the Nonliving Human Ancestors under study, it has been suggested that the ethical and legal implications of genetically studying present-day and ancient human populations should be considered case-by-case. Nevertheless, the discussions have focused on US and European perspectives. To contribute from a local and Latin American position to the problem, we present the history of consensus and disagreement of the relationships between scientists and Indigenous communities of the Atlantic coast of central Argentinian Patagonia. We describe how these relations converged in the sanction of a provincial law pioneer at the national level, which contemplates the respect for Indigenous ancestry and the Indigenous right to making-decision about their Ancestors, and how these relationships allowed the development of aDNA studies. With this background, we address the main ethical concerns of genomic studies of Ancestors identified in the reference literature. We define some "conflict triggers" and commit to applying some recommendations and ethical guidelines suggested in the consulted bibliography. Then, we reflect on possible negative consequences of ongoing research and propose some suggestions based on personal experiences that will contribute to move the ethical field towards a more contextualized science with a local perspective.