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Tackling that problem tugs at the heart of what H3Africa could mean—for the continent and for science as a whole.
解決這一問題將會觸及到“非洲H3”對非洲大陸和整個科學的意義的核心。
As de Vries sees it, reconceptualizing Africa as a land of scientific excellence “depends on what you think scientific excellence is.”
正如德·弗里斯所看到的，將非洲重新定義為科學卓越之地“取決于你對科學卓越的看法”。
African laboratories may never sequence a genome in 24 hours.
非洲實驗室可能永遠不會在24小時內對基因組進行測序。
That playing field, Rotimi says, “is not really ever going to be completely level.”
羅蒂米說，這種競爭環境“永遠都不會是完全平等的。”
But excellence doesn't need to be restricted to technological savvy.
但卓越不需要局限于技術悟性。
“What African researchers are far better at,” de Vries says, “is understanding patient needs and community needs.”
德弗里斯說:“非洲研究人員更擅長的是了解病人的需求和社區的需求。”
Ikwueme's breast cancer patients want to tell her about their lives and feel that she cares;
Ikwueme的乳腺癌患者想告訴她他們的生活，且感覺到了她的關心；
otherwise, they aren't comfortable participating in research.
否則，他們就不愿意參與研究。
And many traditional African communities prioritize the group over the individual, which means a patient's community often needs to be consulted about, say, study participation.
許多傳統的非洲社區優先考慮群體而不是個人，這意味著患者的社區經常需要咨詢，比如說，參與研究。
“If I actually want to get the best from these patients,” Ikwueme says, “I need to be involved.”
如果我真的想從這些病人身上得到最好的東西，”Ikwueme說，“我需要參與其中”。
Whether Rotimi succeeds in bringing about the change he seeks is uncertain.
羅蒂米是否能成功實現他所尋求的改變還不確定。
The program is now in its last funding cycle, and its scientists will need to start competing for grant money with the rest of the world.
該項目目前正處于最后一個資助周期，其科學家將需要開始與世界其他地區爭奪贈款。
They also need government support, which so far has been in short supply.
他們還需要政府的支持，而到目前為止，政府的支持一直供不應求。
Rotimi has appealed to the World Bank for help, and a new office for handling grant applications, to be peer-reviewed by Africans, is now operating out of Nairobi, Kenya.
羅蒂米呼吁世界銀行提供幫助，另外一個由非洲人同行評議的處理贈款申請的新辦事處目前正在肯尼亞內羅畢開展業務。
Researchers everywhere are at the mercy of government, but it's particularly challenging here.
各地的研究人員都受政府的擺布，但這在這里尤其具有挑戰性。
So far, country policymakers across sub-Saharan Africa have been reluctant to see the value of the work and agree to put more money toward science.
迄今為止，撒哈拉以南非洲國家的政策制定者一直不愿看到這項工作的價值，并同意向科學投入更多資金。
Rotimi, who is now 61 and considers H3Africa a lifetime achievement, is well aware that politics could sabotage the whole effort.
現年61歲的羅蒂米認為非洲是他一生的成就，他很清楚政治可能會破壞整個努力。
“Bad government,” he says, “is probably the number one risk factor for health in Africa.”
“糟糕的政府，”他說，“可能是非洲健康的頭號風險因素。
It is also poses a larger risk.
這也帶來了更大的風險。
A 2016 study examining whether genome research has become more inclusive of African DNA since 2009 found only a 3 percent increase.
2016年，一項關于基因組研究是否對非洲的DNA進行了更廣泛的研究的調查發現，自2009年以來，只增加了3%。
Of the 2,511 genome-wide association studies completed at the time, just 19 percent included minorities.
在當時完成的2511項全基因組關聯研究中，只有19%的研究對象是少數民族。
“It wasn't surprising,” says study author S. Malia Fullerton, a bioethicist at the University of Washington, “but it was rather shocking.”
研究作者S. 瑪麗亞·富勒頓是華盛頓大學的生物倫理學家，他說：“這并不令人驚訝，但相當令人震驚。”
The future of medicine depends on changing that history.
醫學的未來取決于改變這段歷史。
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