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Chinese firm using COVID tests to ‘mine’ DNA data was funded by Bill Gates Foundation
BY THE WIZ ON MARCH 7, 2021
Early last March, the state of Washington was the site of the first major coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. As the need for COVID tests spiked, BGI Group, the world’s largest biotech firm – a global giant based in China – approached the state of Washington with an enticing offer.
In a strikingly personal letter to the governor, BGI proposed to build and help run state-of-the-art COVID testing labs. BGI would “provide technical expertise,” provide “high throughput sequencers” and even “make additional donations.”
It seemed like an offer the state couldn’t refuse, especially given the need. But officials were suspicious about BGI and its connections to the Chinese government.
Bill Evanina, a former counterintelligence official in the U.S., called the lab’s offers a modern-day Trojan horse.
BGI comes to the U.S. bearing gifts, but harboring other motives. It’s unclear whether BGI, or any COVID tester, would get DNA from nasal swabs, Evanina told 60 Minutes, but the labs are a way to establish a foothold, to bring their equipment here, start mining your data, and set up shop in your neighborhood.
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