Yves Moreau

Yves Moreau, bioinformaticus aan de KU Leuven, heeft hiervoor al vele malen gewaarschuwd. ‘Je ziet wereldwijd de opkomst van genendatabanken. Dat China competitief is, tot de wereldtop wil horen en dus controle wil over wie, wat met welke gegevens doet, is niet onredelijk. Veel richtlijnen lijken oprecht misbruik aan banden te willen leggen. Ook vindt onderzoek naar zeldzame genenmutaties en ziekten als alzheimer wereldwijd plaats. Maar als er een nationaal dataplatform aankomt, een ecosysteem dat de overheid controleert, vind ik dat zorgelijk.’

But regardless of how we think about these specifics, this case serves to highlight a much larger issue: given the large number of ethical issues associated with AI and its potential uses we need to dedicate much more of our time and attention to the question of whether some certain forms of research should be considered forbidden knowledge. Do AI scientists and developers have moral responsibilities for their work? Is it more important to develop this research for its own sake or are there other ethical goods that should take precedence?

“It means genetic data is the new oil to manage and defend in a geopolitical manner and support its economy,” said Yves Moreau, professor of engineering at KU Leuven, Belgium, and expert in computational biology for genomic medicine.

"It’s natural for any state to consider genetic information something strategic. But this is going very far, saying that the state will be the central judge of how we manage this kind of information, both internationally and nationally," Moreau said.

Chinese genomics giant, BGI Group, which runs the state-owned national gene bank, is believed to have significant and long-standing ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s military. In recent years, twenty major UK universities have received over £40 million from state-linked Chinese companies. Other universities have previously had commercial links with BGI subsidiaries, it is claimed. However, Exeter University which has a running contract with a BGI subsidiary involving data

Hij ontdekte dat er ontzettend veel wetenschappelijke literatuur hierover in China was en dat honderden van die papers linken hadden met de veiligheidsdiensten. Dat is niet zo lastig om vast te stellen. “In ongeveer de helft van de studies naar DNA-profilering bij Chinese bevolkingsgroepen, werkt minstens één coauteur voor de Chinese veiligheidsdiensten”, zegt Moreau.

A highly regarded scientific journal has retracted a paper based on DNA samples from nearly 38,000 men in China, including Tibetans and Uyghurs who almost certainly did not give proper consent. The rare retraction by the journal, Human Genetics, follows a two-year crusade by a Belgian scientist to push publishers to investigate research that he and others say is complicit in human rights violations.

Although Qiagen continues to operate in China, the company says it is committed to taking action: ‘What we can and will do is block those scientists and institutes engaged in such practices. We will ask our distributors to implement the same measure.’ ‘This is important and newsworthy,’ says Yves Moreau. However, he fears that Qiagen will restrict itself to only blocking scientists whose articles have been retracted. ‘But it is good news. The statement about involving distributors is also important. Qiagen can incorporate the ban in its contractual obligations, but that could cause problems with the Chinese government. It could result in some interesting situations.’

В научном, а потом и в политическом мире в последние месяцы наделали немало шума выступления Ива Моро – бельгийского ученого, эксперта в области биоинформатики, профессора Католического университета Левена. Он призывает коллег отказаться от использования в работе любых данных и особенно биоматериалов и образцов ДНК, насильно взятых в Синьцзян-Уйгурском автономном районе КНР у местных жителей-уйгуров. Несмотря на международное давление и постоянно вскрывающиеся все новые факты репрессий и гонений

Yves Moreau believes scientific advances should never be built on the backs of the oppressed. A professor and bioinformatician at Belgium’s Catholic University of Leuven, Moreau urges other scientists not to publish studies based on DNA taken without consent from Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where the People’s Republic of China (PRC) oppresses Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups.

Drie Nederlandse toplaboratoria, waaronder het Erasmus Medisch Centrum, werkten de afgelopen jaren samen met Chinese wetenschappers aan de ontwikkeling van gevoelige DNA-technieken, blijkt uit onderzoek van Follow the Money en RTL Nieuws. Die kennis kan volgens deskundigen worden gebruikt om minderheden en politieke tegenstanders te controleren. In juni 2016 keert Maysem, een die in Ankara in Turkije sociale wetenschappen studeert, terug naar Kashgar – haar woonplaats in de Chinese regio Xinjia

Drie Nederlandse toplaboratoria, waaronder het Erasmus Medisch Centrum, werkten de afgelopen jaren samen met Chinese wetenschappers aan het ontwikkelen van gevoelige DNA-technieken. Met die kennis is het mogelijk om iemands kleur haar of ogen of de kleur van de huid te voorspellen, zonder dat je die persoon ooit gezien hebt. Deskundigen vinden deze samenwerking met China fout. RTL Nieuws en Follow the Money bekeken twintig wetenschappelijke publicaties over het voorspellen van lichaamskenmerken

Professor Moreau, who campaigns against the “creeping development of mass surveillance technology”, said that computer scientists should think about the parameters of “acceptable” research. “Do we really need…models that [track] groups like Tibetans and Uighurs?”

Do we really need to have models that [track] groups like Tibetans and Uyghurs that are really quite vulnerable in China? Computer scientists should really start reflecting about what research is acceptable and not acceptable. We have been playing with fire in an arsenal with what we've been doing with surveillance technology.

Concerns about Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang and the mass DNA collection nationwide, led academics to write an open letter in June asking the scientific community whether it was acceptable to continue publishing such research papers from China. Photo: AFP

Paradoxalement, et bien qu’elles nous attirent vers leurs flammes spéculatrices, les lumières des cryptomonnaies n’indiquent-elles pas le chemin d’un monde où l’Argent ne serait plus le centre de l’univers ?

He had previously analyzed 529 studies from China that involved genetic research and found that, among those published between 2011 and 2018, about half had a co-author who was from the police, military or judiciary. “These lines are very clear,” Professor Moreau said. “You can’t say: ‘I didn’t know, I didn’t realize and I have no influence.’”

Twee wetenschappelijke tijdschriften hebben publicaties van een Chinese onderzoeker van het Erasmus Medisch Centrum teruggetrokken, zo blijkt uit onderzoek van Follow the Money en RTL Nieuws. Hij kon onvoldoende aantonen dat Oeigoeren, een vervolgde minderheid in China, toestemming hebben gegeven voor het afstaan van hun dna. ‘Terugtrekking van een wetenschappelijk artikel op ethische gronden is zeer zeldzaam.’

Nine members of the editorial board of the journal Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine have resigned after the journal’s editor failed to tackle concerns that it had published articles from China potentially useful in the genetic surveillance of oppressed minorities, such as the Uyghurs of Xinjiang province.