Report links Gates Foundation to Chinese DNA harvesting genetics firm
Gates partnered with BGI Genomics, a Chinese company that’d go on to create controversial COVID testing kits flagged by U.S. intelligence officials.
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Gates partnered with BGI Genomics, a Chinese company that’d go on to create controversial COVID testing kits flagged by U.S. intelligence officials.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates partnered with BGI Genomics, a Chinese company that'd go on to create controversial COVID testing kits flagged by U.S. intelligence officials.
The National Pulse connected the dots between BGI Genomics (linked to the Chinese Communist Party) and the Bill Gates Foundation.
In September 2012 the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to collaborate.
What on, exactly, is described here by BGI’s co-founder:
“Having contributed to the Human Genome Project as well as sequencing the genomes of many critical plant and animal species and human diseases, including the initial sequencing of the rice genome as well as our involvement in the Rice 10,000 Genome Project, the 1,000 Plants and Animals Genome Project, the International 1,000 genomes project, the 1,000 Rare Diseases Project, the International Cancer Genome Project, Autism Genome 10K, among others, BGI looks forward to partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in this significant collaboration to apply genomics research to benefit global human health.”
According to the Financial Times, Bill Gates had shown interest as far back as 2010, when he visited the BGI headquarters in Shenzhen China. "As they toured the BGI headquarters, the two men were stunned by the ambition of the scientists working at the biotech company. Inside, more than 150 state of the art genetic sequencing machines were analysing the equivalent of thousands of human genomes a day. The company is working towards a goal of building a huge library based on the DNA of many millions of people."
At the end of 2012, The New York Times wrote about how the Obama administration allowed BGI-Shenzhen to acquire Complete Genomics of Mountain View, California. It needed to be approved by the federal committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Apparently, it did. The governing body reviews national security implications in situations like this and the Obama administration saw no problem. Despite prominent concerns about allowing China access to DNA sequencing technology.
Fast forward to October/November 2020 and these banned COVID kits came under scrutiny for being linked to BGI.
According to AP: “U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use Chinese-made coronavirus test kits donated by the United Arab Emirates over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.”
The Associated Press claimed U.S. intelligence officials warned China could exploit samples to discover someone’s medical history, genetic traits, and illnesses.
At the end of January 2021 both Reuters and 60 Minutes on CBS unraveled more controversy with regards to China’s BGI group. Reuters found publicly available documents linking BGI to the Chinese military and research on “mass testing for respiratory pathogens to brain science.”
An expert panel warned the U.S. government that a country like China could exploit genetic weaknesses in Americans with this caliber of data. It’s what led top counterintelligence official Bill Evanina to speak out to 60 Minutes about it. They detail how BGI Group tried approaching Washington state in March 2020 with “state-of-the-art” COVID testing labs, and exposing how China had a potential pathway to DNA harvesting.
Thankfully officials turned the offer down.
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