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BGI and the Digital Silk Road

BGI.com.global: Our Simple Mission:

To provide researchers and healthcare professionals with quality genomic data and genetic testing solutions, at rapid turnaround times with industry leading pricing.

BGI Genomics is the world’s leading provider of genomic sequencing services and proteomic services, now serving customers in more than 100 countries. We provide (the following) .. with integrated genomic sequencing and proteomic services and solutions(:)

  • academic institutions

  • pharmaceutical companies

  • health care providers

  • and other organizations

Atlantic Council: Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) (is) a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company referred to as the “Huawei of genomics”.

Gen News: (Feb 26, 2020) The coveted last slot of this year’s AGBT conference*, the premier genomics conference held in Florida every winter, promised to be a blockbuster with the title:

First $100 genome sequencing enabled by new extreme throughput DNBSEQ platform.

Technology Review: (pay site): (T)he Chinese gene giant BGI Group (announced) it will make genome sequencing cheaper than ever breaking the $100 barrier for the first time ever.

(Woo-hoo! More genomic gold for the People’s Republic of Totalitarianism/Western Scientists.)

Radoje Drmanac, CSO of MGI (owned by BGI): It’s not unthinkable that a $10 genome may be (possible). At future AGBTs, we’ll hopefully present even crazier innovations and breakthroughs.

CBS: The financial stakes for dominating the global biotech sector — the industry that's bringing us the COVID vaccine — are staggering, estimated to be worth up to $4 trillion a year. For perspective, that's more than the valuation of Amazon and Apple combined.

BGI - Radoje Drmanac

Gen News: Radoje (Rade) Drmanac, CSO of MGI, was a co-founder of Complete Genomics, which ..launched in 2008 with its novel DNA NanoBalls (DNB) platform. .. (A)fter going public (it) was acquired by BGI for about $117 million in 2013. MGI (is) the company’s next-gen subsidiary.

Gen News: What made (you) think of using an antibody?

Radoje Drmanac: It just hit me, like, why in the world are we trying to do this indirectly when antibodies can recognize the base?

Gen News: Drmanac says that it is very cheap, highly specific and there is no cross talk. Not doing this earlier, he explains, was “a simple mental block in our inventions.”

Technology Review: The Shenzhen company says the low cost will be possible with (Drmanac’s) “extreme” DNA sequencing system .. capable of decoding the genomes of 100 000 people per year.

Radoje Drmanac: (This) is not going from bad to good - it‘s going from excellent to extremely excellent.

Gen News: CoolMPS (MPS stands for massively parallel sequencing) is the first nucleobase-specific antibody-based sequencing chemistry.