Summary
A provision buried in a 2400-page bill approved last week by the U.S. Senate to help the United States compete with China is drawing fire from human genome researchers. It would require the National Institutes of Health to develop new security protocols aimed at preventing the misuse of U.S.-funded genomic data by China and other nations. Some fear China could use such data to give its drug industry an economic advantage, devise bioweapons tailored to Americans’ genetics, or even blackmail people by threatening to release private information. But the American Society of Human Genetics warns that the provision is not based on substantiated security risks and could hinder research.
