George Freeman has alleged BGI Group is a 'danger point' in the global race to develop genomic technology for use in healthcare and research.
His comments came as a group of MPs wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to follow the United States in acting to prevent Chinese firms from harvesting or misusing genetic data from UK citizens.
Last week, the US added BGI Group and some of its subsidiaries to its"entity list" of blacklisted trading partners, saying:"The actions of these entities concerning the collection and analysis of genetic data present a significant risk of diversion to China's military programs."BGI said the US decision had been"impacted by misinformation".
But UK MPs say similar steps should be taken in the UK by preventing BGI from applying for government contracts under the new procurement bill, according to the letter from members of the health, defence and treasury committees. BGI has contracts with a number of universities in the UK and supplies equipment for the National Microbiology Framework. It also sells diagnostic tests in the UK which require samples of a patient's DNA.
Human genetic information collected in the UK is protected by strict data protection laws, but concerns have been raised because China doesn't offer the same protections.
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