Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3718069

Documents

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S.; Anthony, D.; Babiker, H.; Banffy, E.; Booth, T.; Capone, P.; ... ; Zahir, M. (2021)

Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines

Article / Letter to editor
We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries. All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Here we propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and...Show moreWe are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries. All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Here we propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. We commit to adhering to these guidelines and expect they will promote a high ethical standard in DNA research on human remains going forward.In this Perspective, a group representing a range of stakeholders makes the case for a set of five proposed globally applicable ethical guidelines for ancient human DNA research.Show less
All authors
Alpaslan-Roodenberg, S.; Anthony, D.; Babiker, H.; Banffy, E.; Booth, T.; Capone, P.; Deshpande-Mukherjee, A.; Eisenmann, S.; Fehren-Schmitz, L.; Frachetti, M.; Fujita, R.; Frieman, C.J.; Fu, Q.M.; Gibbon, V.; Haak, W.; Hajdinjak, M.; Hofmann, K.P.; Holguin, B.; Inomata, T.; Kanzawa-Kiriyama, H.; Keegan, W.; Kelso, J.; Krause, J.; Kumaresan, G.; Kusimba, C.; Kusimba, S.; Lalueza-Fox, C.; Llamas, B.; MacEachern, S.; Mallick, S.; Matsumura, H.; Morales-Arce, A.Y.; Matuzeviciute, G.M.; Mushrif-Tripathy, V.; Nakatsuka, N.; Nores, R.; Ogola, C.; Okumura, M.; Patterson, N.; Pinhasi, R.; Prasad, S.P.R.; Prendergast, M.E.; Punzo, J.L.; Reich, D.; Sawafuji, R.; Sawchuk, E.; Schiffels, S.; Sedig, J.; Shnaider, S.; Sirak, K.; Skoglund, P.; Slon, V.; Snow, M.; Soressi, M.A.; Spriggs, M.; Stockhammer, P.W.; Szecsenyi-Nagy, A.; Thangaraj, K.; Tiesler, V.; Tobler, R.; Wang, C.C.; Warinner, C.; Yasawardene, S.; Zahir, M.
Date
2021-11-04
Journal
Nature
Volume
599
Pages
41–46
DOI
doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04008-x
Link
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04008-x

Funding

Sponsorship
NWO
Grant number
VI.C.191.070