China leads the race to become DNA superpower

It’s expected to lead to major medical breakthroughs such as drugs tailored to individual genes and genetic splicing to prevent disease or improve health. It can also be used in agriculture to improve crops and livestock. China aspires to be a global leader in genomics and is already racing ahead in this field. Two years ago, Chinese scientists used genome editing to create “super puppies” that can build muscle faster than normal dogs and much research is being done in various genomics fields, including humans, plants, animals and microbes.
Last year China opened the China National GeneBank (CNGB) in Shenzhen, which is run by BGI, China’s largest biotech genetic start-up. CNGB aims to be the world’s biggest biological information data centre, which executive director Xu Xun describes as “like Google but in the field of life and health data”. It has been dubbed China's Noah's Ark, with its massive library of raw genome data in areas such as medicine, pharmacology and biomedicine. CNGB is compiling a database of one million human genomes and plans to collect 300 million genetic samples over the next few years.
Up until recently there has been close cooperation between US and Chinese scientists on genomics – for example BGI has partnered with American institutions such as the University of Washington and the Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation to establish the West Coast Innovation Centre, which is developing next-generation genetic sequencing technologies. However, genomics is an extremely sensitive area in terms of national security and both countries are now seeking to limit the availability of genetic data to foreign interests.
The data stored in Shenzhen was previously shared with the National Centre for Biotechnology Information in the US, the European Bioinformatics Institute in Britain and the DNA Data Bank of Japan, but for security reasons it was taken back to China. 
Meanwhile China and the US are racing to establish their own medical initiatives that will enable the customising of treatments based on individual genetic traits. China has set aside $9 billion (Bt298 billion) for this project while the US initiative established under former president Barack Obama has a budget of $215 million.
Such developments in genomics are of great interest to Thailand since we are a major food producer and keen to become a globally important medical hub. We can expect genomics to be used in advanced medical treatments, in anti-ageing, and to prevent the development of genetic diseases. Indeed, in a world first, researchers at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou controversially engineered human embryos using a gene-editing technique known as “CRISPR/Cas9.embryos” to modify the gene responsible for the thalassaemia blood disease, a serious problem in Thailand. While such developments are exciting they also raise ethical and security concerns. Thailand will need to be aware of these and protect our own unique genetic data.