Original title: does BGI require its employees to live to 100 years old?
Recently, Wang Jian, chairman of BGI, a listed company of gene testing, made another "gold sentence". At the forum of Guiyang digital Expo on May 28, Wang Jian asked employees to live to 100 years old, not have birth defects, not suffer from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, etc. netizens joked that "high tech companies have become pyramid schemes.".
In fact, everyone who is familiar with Wang Jian knows that this is not the first time that he has made such remarks. At the third Zhejiang Business Summit Forum in 2017, Wang Jian once said that BGI's "three major disciplines and eight points for attention":
First, you can't lose in the womb, the fetus will develop better;
Second, we do genetic research. If our employees and family members have tumors discovered by the hospital, it will be a shame to me;
Third, all of our elevators have been turned off. We have to climb stairs to work and put scales everywhere. If the "three highs" don't go down, don't raise your salary. It's my shame that you will die of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
It's not the first time that the logic of no causal relationship has been reflected in this chairman. At the end of last year, Wang Jian said in an interview that he opposed cervical cancer vaccine because the price of 4000 yuan is too expensive. It's better to spend 50 yuan every three years for gene testing. In this regard, doctors have made it clear that gene testing can not replace cervical cancer vaccine.
In 2017, BGI, the leading enterprise in the gene field, went public for 18 consecutive trading limits. Its market value once exceeded 100 billion yuan. It was regarded as the "unicorn in the gene industry". However, it ignored life science and made astonishing remarks frequently. So, can the speech of BGI be realized, and to what extent can the current genetic testing be achieved?
Zero birth defects and avoiding cardiovascular disease? Impossible!
Wang Jian's remarks include three aspects: employees are not allowed to have birth defects, are not allowed to suffer from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and require employees to live to the age of 100. Is it blind self-confidence or scientific basis to say these remarks?
Let's take a look at the first one. Wang Jianzeng said, "so far, through genetic testing, none of the more than 1400 children born to Huada employees has birth defects.". According to the official website, one of the businesses of BGI is to carry out pre implantation embryo testing and post pregnancy newborn testing. It is possible to detect it, but it is still a medical ethical problem that has not been settled up to now whether to give birth to the baby after it is found that the fetus has the possibility of genetic diseases. How does BGI solve it?
Looking at Wang Jian's previous remarks, it is not difficult to find the answer. At the third Zhejiang Business Summit Forum, Wang Jian said: "I can't convince the society. I have convinced Huada. Our more than 6000 employees have given birth to more than 1300 children, and none of them has such a disease.".
This is the choice of BGI's enterprises and employees, but this concept may not be accepted by everyone.
As for the rule that employees are not allowed to suffer from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, BGI has put an end to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases by controlling the diet of employees, encouraging them not to take the elevator to climb stairs, and focusing on the three highs.
Under the question of "what do you think of Wang Jian's opinion that the employees of BGI need to live to 100 years old?" Dr. Dingxiang replied, "the causes of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are extremely complex. In addition to smoking, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and other pathogenic factors, there are also uncontrollable factors such as gender, age, genetic background and mental pressure. Other studies have found that the occurrence of atherosclerosis may also be related to some pathogenic microbial infections, such as Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori and so on. Therefore, for cardiovascular disease, no matter how good the prevention is, it can't be 100% avoided. '
In addition, "living to 100 years old is not necessarily related to disease screening," said Yang Lianjun, director of the pathology department of the coal general hospital. In the view of industry insiders, BGI's requirement that employees live to 100 years old is just a good vision of the enterprise.
Zhou Kun, founder and CEO of Rubik's cube, said, "in terms of biological aging, people can live to 120 years old in an ideal state, but people's life span depends on comprehensive progress in medicine, environment and other aspects. Gene technology alone can not make people live to 100 years old. Some diseases are not necessarily related to genes, but more related to environment and living habits. '
What can genetic testing do now?
According to public reports, in 2013, Angelina & middot; Julie, a famous Hollywood movie star, learned that she was a BRCA1 mutation gene carrier through gene sequencing, and her risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer was 80% and 50% respectively. She had a preventive mastectomy. In 2015, she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
Due to the family inheritance, Angelina & middot; Julie's great grandmother, grandparents, uncles, aunts and mother all died of cancer. After the surgery, Julie said, her risk of breast cancer dropped from 87% to 5%.
It is reported that the emergence of the second generation of high-throughput gene sequencer on the market makes gene detection play a certain value in cancer prevention and treatment, birth defect control and other medical and clinical fields.
In the market, some start-ups have launched health management products for all aspects of cancer diagnosis and treatment, including cancer risk assessment, early screening, molecular pathological diagnosis and other businesses.
"The genes of different diseases are different, and what gene testing can solve is only part of it," Zhou Kun said. "Hereditary deafness and noninvasive prenatal testing have entered a rapid popularization stage. '
Public reports show that genetic screening of hereditary deafness is helpful for early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. If genetic deafness is found in screening, cochlear implants can be installed as soon as possible to avoid children's deafness induced hoarseness. If stress reaction caused by drug sensitivity is found, the use of these drugs can be avoided. According to reports, BGI has completed gene testing for over one million cases of deafness, and found about 5% of the gene mutation carriers and affected people.
Noninvasive prenatal examination can detect the fetus with Down's syndrome. 60% of the children abort early in the fetus. The survivors have obvious mental retardation, special facial features, growth and development disorders and multiple malformations. Abortion can avoid the birth of such fetus. 'the main function of genetic testing is to screen and find problems by abortion. 'Yang Lianjun said.
At present, nearly 300 hospitals in China use sequencer for non-invasive prenatal gene testing, and one third of them are equipped with domestic sequencer.
Talent test? Can't believe it!
At present, gene testing on the market includes professional gene testing and consumer gene testing related to scientific research and medical treatment. Among them, consumer gene testing is the most frequently contacted by users. The testing services provided by consumer gene testing companies, such as micro gene and 23 Rubik's cube, include Zuyuan, health risk, nutrition supplement and medication suggestions. In Zhou Kun's view, this is to let users better understand their own characteristics I have.
This is a scientific test, but what is more known to consumers in the past two years is that some companies claim to be gifted with genetic testing. Talent testing refers to the analysis of children's' talent 'in sports, art and mathematical logic through genetic testing.
Beijing news once reported that sun Yingli, a researcher at Beijing Institute of genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that there are no real 'gifted genes'. Those so-called' gifted genes' refer to some genes related to intelligence quotient. Naming them 'gifted genes' is just a gimmick. It has a certain scientific basis, but there are too many exaggerated elements.
Chai yingshuang, a senior practitioner in the field of gene sequencing and director of the national clinical marketing strategy of Thermo Fisher, once wrote an article, pointing out that "up to now, the academic community has not recognized that any gene is necessarily related to talent. With some published exploratory research articles, it is said that it is the result confirmed by the industry. It is neither scientific nor ethical to deceive people outside the industry to make money. '
Jiang huizeng, vice president of Shenzhen Huada Gene Research Institute, said in an interview: "now many of the so-called gifted gene testing, I think it is absolutely impossible to do. This is totally misleading or misusing information. '