Archiving this article from 2019…
Weaponizing Biotech: How China’s Military Is Preparing for a ‘New Domain of Warfare’ – Defense One, 2019/08/14
We may be on the verge of a brave new world indeed. Today’s advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering have exciting applications in medicine — yet also alarming implications, including for military affairs. China’s national strategy of military-civil fusion (军民融合) has highlighted biology as a priority, and the People’s Liberation Army could be at the forefront of expanding and exploiting this knowledge.
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the PLA is pursuing military applications for biology and looking into promising intersections with other disciplines, including brain science, supercomputing, and artificial intelligence. Since 2016, the Central Military Commission has funded projects on military brain science, advanced biomimetic systems, biological and biomimetic materials, human performance enhancement, and “new concept” biotechnology.
Highlighting the company BGI here.
In 2016, the potential strategic value of genetic information led the Chinese government to launch the National Genebank (国家基因库), which intends to become the world’s largest repository of such data. It aims to “develop and utilize China’s valuable genetic resources, safeguard national security in bioinformatics (生物信息学), and enhance China’s capability to seize the strategic commanding heights” in the domain of biotechnology.
The effort is administered by BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Inc., which is Beijing’s de facto national champion in the field. BGI has established an edge in cheap gene sequencing, concentrating on amassing massive amounts of data from a diverse array of sources. The company has a global presence, including laboratories in California and Australia.
U.S. policymakers have been concerned, if not troubled, by the company’s access to the genetic information of Americans. BGI has been pursuing a range of partnerships, including with the University of California and with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on human genome sequencing. BGI’s research and partnerships in Xinjiang also raise questions about its linkage to human rights abuses, including the forced collection of genetic information from Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Adding a couple of notes from this Op/Ed…
Can the world stop China’s surge into biological warfare? – Washington Times, 2020/11/05
China has reportedly begun using genomic science — the study of DNA “profiles” of individuals and ethnic groups — to identify its Uighur Muslim population, which is being severely oppressed. It has also created a national “gene bank,” intending to make it the world’s largest depository of genomic data.
CFIUS — the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. — is an interagency group that has regulatory power over foreign purchases of U.S. companies and real estate. The State Department and the Department of Defense both play prominent roles in it. Under the Obama-Biden administration, CFIUS foolishly approved Beijing Genomics Incorporated’s (BGI’s) purchase of Complete Genomics Inc., (CGI) a U.S. company, in 2012.
By approving that purchase, CFIUS gave BGI access to CGI’s database of American DNA profiles and entry into the U.S. genomics market. It was akin to enabling the Chinese company Huawei to build a 5G network in the U.S., which President Trump stopped, because an Huawei-built 5G network would give China access to virtually all U.S. data.
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In July, two subsidiaries of BGI — Xinjiang Silk Road BGI and Beijing Liuhe BGI — were blacklisted by the United States for their helping the Chinese identify and oppress the Uighurs. BGI itself apparently wasn’t blacklisted because it is heavily involved in genetic studies with companies in the U.S., meaning it has access to vastly more American DNA profiles than the acquisition of CGI gave it.