BGI Group

Template:Short description Template:Infobox company BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is a Chinese genomics company with headquarters in Yantian, Shenzhen. The company was originally formed in 1999 as a genetics research center to participate in the Human Genome Project.<ref name="Wired174">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Hand">Template:Cite web</ref> It also sequences the genomes of other animals, plants and microorganisms.<ref name="auto4">Template:Cite news</ref>

BGI has transformed from a small research institute, notable for decoding the DNA of pandas and rice plants, into a diversified company active in animal cloning, health testing, and contract research.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> BGI's earlier research was continued by the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> BGI Research, the group's nonprofit division, works with the Institute of Genomics and operates the China National GeneBank under a contract with the Chinese government.<ref name=":62">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BGI Genomics, a subsidiary, was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017. The company is supported by several China Government Guidance Funds and Chinese state-owned enterprises.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Starting in 2021, details came to light about multiple controversies involving the BGI Group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These controversies include alleged collaboration with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and use of genetic data from prenatal tests.<ref name=":04">Template:Cite web</ref> BGI denied that it shares prenatal genetics data with the PLA.<ref name=":14">Template:Cite news</ref>

History

Beijing Genomics Institute

Template:Main Wang Jian, Yu Jun, Yang Huanming and Liu Siqi created BGI, originally named Beijing Genomics Institute, in September 1999,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Beijing, China as a non-governmental independent research institute in order to participate in the Human Genome Project as China's representative.<ref name="BioITWorld" /><ref name="Dragon">The dragon's DNA , Jun 17th 2010, The Economist</ref> After the project was completed, funding dried up, after which BGI moved to Hangzhou in exchange for funding from the Hangzhou Municipal Government. In 2002, BGI sequenced the rice genome, which was a cover story in the journal Science. In 2003, BGI decoded the SARS virus genome and created a kit for detection of the virus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2003, the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded the Beijing Institute of Genomics in cooperation with BGI, with Yang Huanming as its first director. BGI Hangzhou and the Zhejiang University also founded a new research institute, the James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Zhejiang University.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Spin-off from the Beijing Genomics Institute

In 2007, BGI broke away from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, became a private company, and relocated to Shenzhen.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":62" /> Yu Jun left BGI at this time purportedly selling his stake to the other 3 founders for a nominal sum.<ref name="auto4" /> In 2008, BGI published the first human genome of an Asian individual.<ref name="BioITWorld" /><ref>Ye, Jia (2008) An Interview with a Leader in Genomics — Beijing Genomics Institute Template:Webarchive Asia Biotech, Retrieved 14b January 2013</ref>

In 2010, BGI bought 128 Illumina HiSeq 2000 gene-sequencing machines,<ref name="Wired174"/><ref name="BioITWorld">Kevin Davies, (27 September 2011) The Bedrock of BGI: Huanming Yang Template:Webarchive Bio-IT World, Retrieved 14 January 2014</ref> which was backed by US$1.5 billion in "collaborative funds" over the next 10 years from the state lender China Development Bank.<ref name="auto4"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="auto1">Template:Cite journal</ref> By the end of the year, they reportedly had a budget of $30 million.<ref name="Petsko"/> In 2010, BGI Americas was established with its main office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, and BGI Europe was established in Copenhagen, Denmark.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 2018, BGI opened offices and laboratories in Seattle and San Jose in US,<ref name="Wired174" /> and London in the UK, as well were founded BGI Asia Pacific with offices in Hong Kong, Kobe (Japan), Bangkok (Thailand), Laos, Singapore, Brisbane (Australia) and many others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Independent source inline

In 2011, BGI reported it employed 4,000 scientists and technicians,<ref name="Beast">Lone Frank, High-Quality DNA Template:Webarchive, Apr 24, 2011, The Daily Beast</ref> and had a $192 million in revenue.<ref name="auto4"/> BGI did the genome sequencing for the deadly 2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak in three days and released it under an open license.<ref name="NewYorker">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Since 2012, it has started to commercialize its services, having investments from China Life Insurance Company, CITIC Group's Goldstone Investment, Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital, and SoftBank China Capital.<ref name="MGI18">Template:Cite web</ref> That year they also launched their own scientific journal, GigaScience,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> partnering with BioMed Central to publish data-heavy life science papers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A new partnership was subsequently formed between the GigaScience Press department of BGI and Oxford University Press and since 2017 GigaScience has been co-published with the Oxford University Press.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":32">Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2025 BGI removed the international Editorial, Software and GigaDB teams, and BGI Chief Scientist Xu Xun appointed himself as publisher and editor-in-chief.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2025 the majority of the Editorial Board resigned citing concerns the lack of any consultation and concerns about how these changes may affect the journal's long-standing commitment to publishing rigorously reviewed, reproducible research.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2013, BGI bought Complete Genomics of Mountain View, California, a major supplier of DNA sequencing technology, for US$118 million, after gaining approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.<ref name="auto4" /><ref name="NewYorker"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Complete Genomics is a US-based subsidiary of MGI, MGI was a subsidiary of BGI before it was spun out and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2015, BGI signed a collaboration with the Zhongshan Hospital' Center for Clinical Precision Medicine in Shanghai, opened in May 2015 with a budget of ¥100 million. They are reportedly being involved as a sequencing institution in China's US$9.2-billion research project for medical care which will last for 15 years.<ref name="Wired174"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2017, was announced formation of West Coast Innovation Center, co-located in Seattle and San Jose, on the first location planned to work on precision medicine and feature collaborations with University of Washington, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Washington State University, while on the second's already existing laboratory with 100 employees to develop the next-generation sequencing technologies.<ref name="Wired174"/> In May 2018, reached an agreement with Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto), Canada, for first installation of BGISEQ platforms in North America.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

BGI Genomics, a subsidiary of the group<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> made an initial public offering in July 2017 at Shenzhen Stock Exchange.<ref name=":62" /> In 2018, the BGI was reportedly 85.3% owned by Wang Jian, and the group owns 42.4% of its main unit BGI Genomics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2019, it was reported that a BGI subsidiary, Forensic Genomics International, had created a WeChat-enabled database of genetic profiles of people across the country.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2020, it was reported that BGI returned a Paycheck Protection Program loan following media scrutiny.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, state-owned enterprises of State Development and Investment Corporation and China Merchants Group took ownership stakes in BGI Genomics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

U.S. sanctions

Template:Further In July 2020, the United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security placed two BGI subsidiaries on its Entity List for assisting in alleged human rights abuses due to its genetic analysis work in Xinjiang.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2023, the United States Department of Commerce added BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hongkong) to the Entity List over allegations of surveillance and repression of ethnic minorities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

BGI subsequently hired lobbyists at Steptoe & Johnson to soften language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 that would prohibit government funding of BGI and its subsidiaries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As of 2024, BGI is identified in a list by the United States Department of Defense as a Chinese military company operating in the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2024, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party asked the Department of Defense for an explanation for why BGI subsidiaries Innomics and STOmics were not included in the same list.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Research

E. coli

In 2011, BGI sequenced the genome of E. coli bacteria causing an epidemic in Europe to identify genes that lead to resistance to antibiotics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

COVID-19

In January 2020, BGI Genomics announced its real-time fluorescent RT-PCR kit that helps in identification of SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. This was subsequently verified and authorized for use in 14 countries and regions, including emergency use listing by the World Health Organization.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> BGI Genomics reported that by April 2021 the RT-PCR kits had been distributed to more than 180 countries and regions. BGI also developed biosafety level 2 high-throughput nucleic acid detection laboratories, named Huo-Yan laboratories.<ref name=":32"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the first half of 2020, BGI Group offered to help the state of California set up COVID-19 testing labs at cost. The government of California rejected the offer due to geopolitical concerns, but Santa Clara County did buy COVID-19 test kits and equipment from BGI.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 25, 2020, Reuters reported that about 3,700 people in Sweden were told in error that they had the coronavirus due to a fault in a COVID-19 testing kit from BGI Genomics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite being the 5th test to be given WHO Emergency Use Listing,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and getting top marks in sensitivity tests in a Dutch study independently validating commercially available tests.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> BGI Genomics defended the product, blaming differences in thresholds used between labs looking at very low levels of the virus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bioinformatics technology

Template:Technical The annual budget for the computer center was US$9 million.<ref name="Petsko">Template:Cite journal</ref> In the same year, BGI's computational biologists developed the first successful algorithm, based on graph theory, for aligning billions of 25 to 75-base pair strings produced by next-generation sequencers, specifically Illumina's Genome Analyzer, during de novo sequencing.<ref name="genomeweb.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

SOAPdenovo is part of "Short Oligonucleotide Analysis Package" (SOAP), a suite of tools developed by BGI for de novo assembly of human-sized genomes, alignment, SNP detection, resequencing, indel finding, and structural variation analysis. Built for the Illumina sequencers' short reads, SOAPdenovo has been used to assemble multiple human genomes<ref name="ReferenceB">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Wang">Template:Cite journal</ref> (identifying an eight kilobase insertion not detected by mapping to the human reference genome<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) and animals, like the giant panda.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Up until 2015, BGI had released BGISEQ-100, based on Thermo Fisher Scientific's Ion Torrent device, and BGISEQ-1000, for both of which received an approval from the CFDA for a NIFTY (Non-invasive Fetal Trisomy Test) prenatal test.<ref name="360DxBGI50">Template:Cite web</ref> In October 2015, BGI launched BGISEQ-500,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a larger desktop sequencing system. It reportedly received more than 500 orders for the system and run over 112,000 tests until late 2016.<ref name="360DxBGI50"/> The China National GeneBank, opened by BGI and Chinese Government in September 2016,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> has 150 instruments of the system.<ref name="360DxBGI50"/> The BGISEQ-500 was developed as a sequencing platform capable of competing with Illumina's platforms.<ref name="BIOITW">Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2016, BGI launched BGISEQ-50, a miniature version of desktop sequencer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, BGI began offering WGS for $600.<ref name="Wired174"/> In September 2022, MGI launched DNBSeq-G99, a new ultra-high-speed, mid-to-low throughput sequencer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, BGI developed Stereo-seq, its genome wide Spatial transcriptomics technology and released the first research findings from a consortium of scientific users of the technology in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2022, BGI-Research and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences together with scientists globally, used sequencing technologies to undertake single cell sequencing to expand the understanding of early human embryonic development, to complete the first whole-body cell atlas of a non-human primate, to complete the world's first body-wide single cell transcriptome atlas of pigs, and to study the brains of ants to explain for the first time how the social division of labor within ant colonies is determined by functional specialization of their brains at cellular levels.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Agriculture and biodiversity

In 2002, BGI published the genome of the indica variety of rice.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2014, BGI also collaborated on a project to re-sequence 3,000 rice genomes from 89 countries.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

BGI is a member of the international Earth BioGenome Project which aims to sequence the DNA of all known eukaryotic species on Earth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> BGI has contributed to the 10KP Genome Sequencing Project, an affiliated project to sequence over 10,000 plant genomes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Animal Kingdom

In 2004, BGI was a Member of the International Chicken Genome Consortium that published the genome of the chicken.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2009, BGI published the genome of the Giant Panda.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2014, BGI and scientists from 20 countries worked together to complete the genome-wide sequencing of 48 bird species.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2020, BGI contributed to the completion of whole genome sequencing of 363 genomes from 92.4% of bird families.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2022, BGI led research that published the world's first spatiotemporal map of axolotl brain regeneration.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> During the same year, a study carried out by BGI, Northeast Forestry University, and other institutions revealed the genomics consequences of inbreeding in the South China tiger by examining its chromosome-scale genomes and comparing it with the Amur tiger.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2023, BGI and a scientific consortium jointly published a primate brain cell atlas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Legal disputes

In 2019, competitor Illumina, Inc. filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against BGI.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In response, BGI has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Illumina alleging violations of federal antitrust and California unfair competition laws.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2022 a US court ordered Illumina to pay US$333.8 million to BGI Group after finding that Illumina's DNA-sequencing systems infringed two of BGI's patents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The ruling also stated Illumina infringed the patents willfully, and that three patents it had accused BGI's Complete Genomics subsidiary of infringing were invalid.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2022 Illumina and MGI Tech Co. and Complete Genomics, settled US suits on DNA-sequencing technology, with Illumina agreeing to pay $325 million to settle all US litigation. As part of the settlement Illumina will receive a license to the BGI affiliates' patents, and both companies agreed to not sue each other for patent or antitrust violations in the United States for three years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In a September 2024 testimony before the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, academic Anna B. Puglisi stated that she received legal threats from BGI Group for a report she wrote while serving Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collaboration with the People's Liberation Army

Template:See also In January 2021, Reuters reported that BGI has worked with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and affiliated institutions such as the National University of Defense Technology on efforts to enhance soldiers' strength and other projects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2021, Reuters reported that BGI developed a prenatal test, with the assistance of the People's Liberation Army, which is also used for genetic data collection.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":04"/> In an interview with the South China Morning Post, a BGI representative denied the Reuters report.<ref name=":14"/> The South China Morning Post stated that BGI published papers with the People's Liberation Army General Hospital and the Army Medical University, explaining in the article that in China "many top-notch hospitals are affiliated with the military."<ref name=":14"/> BGI further stated "All NIPT data collected overseas are stored in BGI's laboratory in Hong Kong and are destroyed after five years, as stipulated by General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)".<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> BGI also stated "BGI has never been asked to provide, nor has it provided data from its NIFTY tests to Chinese authorities for national security or national defense security purposes."<ref name=":0" />

In response to the Reuters report, a German privacy regulator launched a probe of a German company's use of BGI's prenatal genetic tests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2021, the UK announced a registration requirement with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for BGI's prenatal tests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Regulators in Australia, Estonia, Canada, and Poland also raised concerns as did the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In November 2021, Reuters reported that a University of Copenhagen professor, Guojie Zhang, who was also employed by BGI was developing drugs for the PLA to assist soldiers with managing altitude sickness.<ref name=":4"/> BGI stated that the study "was not carried out for military purposes."<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> On December 1, 2021, the University of Copenhagen commented on the Reuters report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2022, the United States Department of Defense added BGI Genomics Co, a listed subsidiary, to a list of "Chinese military companies" operating in the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Chinese National Human Genome Center
• Wellcome Sanger Institute
• Broad Institute

External links

• Template:Official websiteTemplate:Coord missing