61includesdivisionsdedicatedtoforensicsandbasic
researchaswellasanopen-accessjournal,isoffi-
ciallynotforprofit,subsidizedbyincomefromthe
commercialdivisionsandfromgrants.
Thecompanyhasneverdisclosedhowall
thisworksorhowitsrelativelymodestearn-
ingscansustainsomuchpublic-spirited
research.Executiveswillsayonlythat
BGIis privatelyowned—Wang,with
a networthestimatedbyForbes
at$1.2billion,isthelargestshare-
holder—andhasnospecialrelation-
shipwithBeijing.Ithasreceived
substantialloansfromthegovern-
ment’sChinaDevelopmentBank,however,
andalsooperatesa “biorepository”offrozentissuesam-
plesandtheChinaNationalGeneBank(CNGB),a Shenzhen
facilitythathousesa vasttroveofdigitizedgeneticdata,on
behalfofthestate.
BGI’sbestinsulationagainstsuspicionis probablyitsros-
terofforeignpartners.Overtheyearsthecompanyhas
collecteda longlistofscientificluminariesasadvisers.
OneofitsmoreenthusiasticcollaboratorshasbeenGeorge
Church,a Harvardresearcherwhoisarguablythemost
prominentgeneticistintheU.S.He’sbeeninvolvedwith
BGIsince2007,andoneofitsresearchinstitutesbearshis
name.ChurchdescribesBGIas“abitmoresophisticated”
thanWesterncompetitors,particularlyinapplyinggenomic
informationtopersonalhealth.“It’sreallyuniqueinthe
wholeworld,whatthey’retryingtodoandwhatthey’ve
done,”hesays.
Wang’seagernesstobeseenasasexagenariansuperhu-
manisrarelysubtle.Nearhisdesk,a pairofgymnastic
ringsissuspendedfromtheceiling—usefultrainingtools
foroneofhisprimaryhobbies,mountaineering.Thehalls
ofBGI’smaincampus,whichoccupiesa con-
vertedshoefactoryneartheShenzhenport,
aredecoratedwithphotosfromhisclimb-
ingexpeditions,includingoneshotfrom
thesummitofMountEverest.Foraninter-
viewinAugustheworea T-shirtandcargo
pantsmadeofa stretchytechnicalfabric,as
thoughhemightboltoffupa mountainat
anymoment.
BGI recentlycelebratedits20thanni-
versary,andWang,whohasspikysalt-and-
pepper hair and a kindly manner, insists it’s
only getting started. “For the last 20 years
we just built up the infrastructure,” he says
in lightly accented English. “Now we really
think we can do something for the country,
for the world, and also for ourselves.”
HedescribesBGIasonitsway
to becoming the first full-stack
genetics company: manufactur-
ing sequencers, running them 24/7
with samples, and using research
fueled by the resulting data to push
thefield forward, in turn creating even
moredemand for sequencing. Improving
thebasictechnology is crucial to the strategy,
andBGIisgoing after both ends of the mar-
ket.Itsentry-level sequencer, the printer-size
DNBSEQE,sells for about $12,000, making it
idealforsmall labs in developing countries.
BGIsaysthemachinecan produce a full report on a sam-
pleinjusteighthours,important when doctors need to
rapidlyidentifya pathogen. The company’s top-of-the-line,
$1millionT7—it looks a bit like an Imperial droid from Star
Wars—ispitched to major research institutes and large drug-
makers.It canchurnthroughasmanyas 60 wholehuman
genomesina day.
TheadvancesmadebyBGIanditscompetitors—above all
Illumina,which still controls the majority of the sequencer
market—havedrastically lowered costs. As of August, accord-
ingtotheNIH,the cost of sequencing a human genome was
$942,compared with about $4,000 in 2015, and BGI says its
ultimategoalis togetto$100orless.
“Everybodyneedsit,especiallynewborns,whoneeda
baseline,”Wangsaysofwhole-genomesequencing.Thatinitial
assessmentcanthenbefollowedby“monitoringandtesting
forthelifetime.”Theinheritedinfantgenomedoesn’tchange,
butaspeopleagegeneticprogrammingcanmanifestinunpre-
dictableways.Subsequenttestscouldmonitortheimmune
systembyexaminingbloodcellstodetermine which genes are
active,orcouldtrack whether mutations are occurring more
frequentlythanexpected,whichmightindicateincreasedcan-
cerrisk.InChinaespecially,“mosttumorpatientscometothe
hospital in the middle or late stages,” Wang
says. With sufficiently early detection, “can-
cer is going to become a manageable, control-
lable disease.”
Making genetic tests ubiquitous, starting
in China, is a central plank of the strategy.
At BGI’s in-house coffee stands, employ-
ees can pick up test kits for human papillo-
mavirus, which can cause cervical cancer,
as well as for BRCA mutations, which are
associated with an elevated risk of breast
and ovarian cancer. The company sells
teststothepubliconGenebook,anonline
“BGImall”thatoffersdiagnosticsaswell
ascomplementary products such as pro-
biotic candies. (BGI doesn’t disclose its
sales through such retail channels.)“One of ourdreams isthateveryone
has an IDcard with their genome”
Pink
flamingos
roam the
groundsStaff are urged to use ame-
nities such as climbing walls