Ethical considerations of research on the microbiome of vulnerable populations

Today, microbiome knowledge and research is largely restricted to high- and middle-income countries, especially in North America, Europe as well as Asia. As the microbiome varies across geographies and lifestyles, it is of utmost importance to fill these “white gaps” and include also with communities and age groups that did not participate in these efforts to date. Many of these communities are- for different reasons- considered as vulnerable populations and including them in microbiome research thus poses many important ethical questions. In this presentation, I aim to give examples of ethical questions and constraints that arise when working on the microbiome of vulnerable populations. Giving examples from our research on the microbiome of undernourished children and their families from the Global South over the last years, I aim to stimulate discussion and reflection on these questions, to foster even better and more inclusive collaborations across cultures, disciplines and social structures in the future.