Protecting Americans’ DNA from foreign exploitation — indeed, from any exploitation — is a laudable goal. But Congress’ latest proposal restricting biotechs from working with certain firms and suppliers is an ineffective result of xenophobia and political fearmongering.
In recent months, Congress began pushing the BIOSECURE Act, a bill that would prohibit government agencies and labs doing federally funded research from working with certain China-affiliated biotech companies. It would also require U.S. companies to sever their contracts by 2032 with the companies named in the bill.
Let’s look at the big picture: Since the United States’ founding, this country has championed innovation and entrepreneurship. These welcoming qualities brought me here in 1991. Back then, I was an unknown scientist — an immigrant from Serbia with the idiosyncratic dream to make DNA sequencing efficient and affordable. The San Jose-based company I founded in 2005 — Complete Genomics (CG) — now employs about 200 people.
In 2013, a Chinese group acquired CG — with U.S. government approval. Today we are a subsidiary of MGI, publicly traded on the Shanghai stock exchange. To the proponents of BIOSECURE, this now forms the basis of a sinister sci-fi narrative in which CG has access to Americans’ genetic information and will use it for nefarious purposes.
This shows a basic ignorance of what CG does: We make and sell equipment. We do not have access to, collect or maintain the genetic data of patients; our customers retain full control over their data. Former FBI cybersecurity experts at FTI Consulting have validated the security of our technology and concluded it did not have any capability to transmit data. Moreover, we operate independently of any Chinese government entity.
Congress’ lack of seriousness stands clear. The BIOSECURE Act will not do what its supporters claim to want — i.e., protect Americans’ personal DNA data. Instead, it will score cheap political points based on fears of China and, perhaps not coincidentally, leave the U.S. market in the hands of the single dominant player that has lobbied for the bill: San Diego-based Illumina Inc.
Illumina already controls 80% of the U.S. genomics market. BIOSECURE will expand that dominance, resulting in less competition, higher prices and fewer choices. It will leave the U.S. health care and biotech industries with no access to our advanced sequencing platform. Ironically, while Congress targets CG, Illumina is drawing closer to China. For example, Illumina has entered a joint venture with Haplox, a major player in China biotech, and built its own manufacturing facility there, boasting of its high-level relationships with China’s elite.
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
