China’s amassing of genomic data highlights biotech race
“Losing your DNA is not like losing your credit card.”
That little-noticed warning from the top U.S. intelligence office came in February, alerting Americans of the risks of inadvertently handing over their genetic codes to China.
Unlike a misplaced credit card, lost DNA cannot be replaced, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in the bulletin, adding that Beijing, as part of its quest to become a global leader in biotech, is aggressively collecting large quantities of genomic data from around the world.
To meet the surging global demand for tests as the COVID-19 pandemic spread last year, one of the leading Chinese biotech firms, BGI, sold test kits to 180 countries and established labs in 18, the lead spy agency says, warning that the genetic data it was collecting could be flowing into Chinese databases.
Although there are no Chinese COVID-19 test labs or kits in the United States yet, China is seeking Americans’ genetic data either by acquiring U.S. genomic sequencing companies or by buying a stake in popular genetic testing companies such as 23andme. Beijing also has been partnering with U.S. hospital chains to provide cheap genomic sequencing services, according to the agency and a recent report by the U.s.china Economic and Security Review Commission.
Left unchecked, China’s advances in biotech could lead to drug discoveries capable of undermining the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, the agency said.
“We do not share any individual level customer data with any entity located in China, or any China-based or Chineseowned entities,” Andy Kill, a spokesman for 23andme said in an email.
Some lawmakers, national security experts and biotech researchers are concerned about the kinds of advances China is seeking to make in the world of life sciences even as most of the world’s attention is focused on China’s advances in military hardware and Beijing’s role in ongoing cyberattacks and internet-based espionage.
“China has amassed the largest genomic holdings of anywhere in the world,” Anna Puglisi, a senior fellow at the Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told the Senate Intelligence Committee at a recent hearing. “Understanding what genes do, and so access to that kind of data, both their own and from other places in the world, gives them an advantage in figuring out” how to develop medicines.
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-ore., and Marco Rubio, R-fla., are among lawmakers alarmed at China’s global genome grab and are pushing agencies to ensure that Americans’ health data doesn’t end up in Chinese hands.