Yves Moreau

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.

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 However, he fears that Qiagen will restrict itself to only blocking scientists whose articles have been retracted.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.

'‘If we think people will get hurt, we have to do something about it,' says researcher Yves Moreau. Yves Moreau is a professor and bioinformatician at the University of Leuven in Belgium whose research focuses on AI algorithms and software platforms for the integration of complex data in clinical genomics and drug discovery. His LinkedIn profile says he is “engaged in a reflection on how information technology and artificial intelligence are transforming our world and on how to make sure this t

When Yves Moreau, a bioinformatician at KU Leuven in Belgium, noticed a 2017 paper in Human Genetics that described the “male genetic landscape of China” based on a set of almost 38,000 Y-STR sequences, he saw a red flag. Y-STR stands for Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat polymorphism, bits of repetitive DNA often used in forensic investigations. Some of the samples came from Uyghurs and other minorities in China, and Moreau was skeptical that they had given informed consent for the use of their

Moreau said he will persist. “At this point, you cannot stay silent,” he told the Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine editorial board in one email. “This situation is creating a shameful embarrassment that reflects poorly on all medical genetics journals and on the entire medical genetics community. Public trust in human genetics depends on our community’s ability to transparently abide by its moral duty.”

‘In de middeleeuwen waren de grenzen tussen landen vaak niet goed gedefinieerd. Pas toen de cartografen het land goed in kaart brachten, kwamen er grenzen die op de meter nauwkeurig bekend waren. Dat was het begin van de natiestaten. Als je kaarten maakt van de genetica van de mens, creëert dat de mogelijkheid om grenzen te trekken. Dat is zorgwekkend.’ Moreau noemt het voorbeeld van de Hutu’s en de Tutsi’s: ‘Het vastleggen en daarna registreren van de Hutu- en Tutsi-etniciteit op basis van fysieke kenmerken, door de koloniale overheersers begin twintigste eeuw, speelde een belangrijke rol in de Rwandese genocide. Dat is iets wat me echt angst aanjaagt.’

"Although sanctions are only targeting Xinjiang actors, ethical issues surrounding human identification extend to the whole of China. The national male Y-DNA program is a massive invasion of privacy. The national (autosomal) DNA database often targets socially undesirable groups (sex workers, drug addicts, political opponents, local petitioners, etc.)."