FROM TOMATOES TO GENOCIDE
Gene editing has made news headlines again this week, and some of its applications feel scarily close to the world of my speculative thriller, Off Target.
After being announced in the Queen’s speech, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is being ushered forward by the UK government on the back of increasing food security concerns. The bill, if passed, will simplify regulation and pave the way for the commercial farming of gene edited crops and livestock in England.
Under EU law, any genetically modified or edited crops are prohibited because of safety concerns, as well as (in the past) vehement public opposition.
But in the wake of rising food prices and inflation, exacerbated by Russian blockades, the UK government is now taking a different view, citing an overly heavy reliance on food imports as well as the need for more sustainable farming practices.
‘Precision breeding technology’ as it is being dubbed, claims to make farming more resilient: better able to weather our changing climate as well as reducing fertiliser and pesticide use.
Crops can be edited to be more disease and drought resistant, with potential nutritional benefits such as the much-lauded tomatoes from Norwich, whose genes have been tweaked to boost our body’s production of vitamin D.
In my speculative thriller, Off Target, such laws have already been passed.
You can order chocolates genetically personalised to your nutritional and taste requirements.
Or red wine where the yeast has been edited to incorporate anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, designed with the added benefit of never giving you a hangover, no matter how much you drink.
Both of these are based on real-life research, which only goes to prove that drinking wine may well be good for you…
Supporters of the proposed bill argue that the farming industry needs gene editing in agriculture to speed up the development of drought- and pest-resistant crops. They claim the UK risks being left at a competitive disadvantage as other countries forge ahead.
But others remain unconvinced, worried about the traceability of edited crops in the food supply chain, as well as their long term impact on our health and environment.
I will be interested to see which view prevails.
Off Target delves into more nefarious uses of genetic technologies too, where not only crops, but also humans can be genetically altered.
This editing of human embryos starts with the best of intentions, to prevent life-threatening diseases, but a genetic arms race ensues.
Unscrupulous fertility clinics and ambitious state-sponsored reproductive programmes attempt to weed out ‘undesirable’ traits and enhance others.
Which is where we get into dangerous territory that sadly links to a shocking news story that also broke this week: the release of photos and documents evidencing the imprisonment and abuse of China’s Uyghurs in so-called ‘education camps’.
The Xinjiang Police Files, as they are being called, were passed to the BBC earlier this year, and are part of a huge cache of data hacked from police servers, including the internment records for 20,000 imprisoned Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in northwest China.
The records show how big data is being used by the Chinese authorities to pry into these citizens’ lives, with digital surveillance tools relentlessly monitoring the content and conversations of ethnic minorities. Individuals are subjected to detention in internment camps, or worse, terrorism charges that rack up multiple prison sentences stretching for decades.
But digital surveillance is only part of the story.
For the past decade, China has been using genetic surveillance to crack down on ethnic minorities: racially profiling minority groups without the proper informed consents.
In 2013, Chinese government authorities started collecting biometric samples from people residing in what is commonly known as the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) under the pretext of offering a free annual physical check-up for residents. Reports indicate that almost 80 per cent (3 million residents) of the population was sampled.
A similar programme was rolled out in Xinjiang in 2016, where data from nearly all 23 million residents was collected, specifically targeting the Uyghurs.
In addition to blood samples for genetic profiling, high-definition photos, voice samples, fingerprints and iris scans were taken and stored in police databases.
US Protests about the Internment of the Uyghurs
This covert, nonconsensual collection of DNA violates Chinese domestic laws and international norms governing the collection, use and storage of human genetic data.
According to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Unit (ASPU) this is now being expanded to include the rest of the population, with China aiming to compile a national genomic database that will enable its security agencies to link DNA samples with a specific family or individual. They estimate it already contains around 140 million profiles. And US counterintelligence officials claim China’s DNA collection doesn’t stop there. BGI, a Chinese company that has contracts with health institutions in the West, developed a neonatal genetic test with the Chinese military that has enabled it to collect genetic data from millions of people around the world.
“The Chinese government are developing the world’s largest bio database. Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.”
The photos and documents about China’s internment camps demonstrate only too vividly what this type of unfettered genetic surveillance can lead to: the deliberate targeting, monitoring and persecution of communities.
Which is why we need robust international governance of emerging genetic technologies as well as fearless investigation into its abuses.
Off Target, my latest genetic thriller is available in all formats and you can order it here.