OJ the reason it is Equador is that is where there are many villages with people who have this rare dwarfism genetic syndrome. That is what they are testing it on, as a proof of concept to then be used later for diabetes. There are not enough people in this country with this syndrome to easily do a trial. In these Equadorian villages, sometimes half the people have it.

The reason for this, interestingly, is these people are descended from Jewish people who fled to South America to avoid persecution. The syndrome is mainly found in Semetic peoples.