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Unethical data gathering in China

01/02/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Unethical data gathering in China

Papers containing DNA data gathered from Chinese ethnic minorities are under scrutiny.

One scientist leads the calls to retract papers containing DNA data, gathered from persecuted Chinese ethnic minorities, as they lack evidence of free and informed consent.

Starting upbeat this week, engineer Teddy Tzanetos, team lead of NASA’s Ingenuity mission, talks on the Mars-based helicopter which defied all expectations. 
 
Our big story this week is on the scientific papers and research databases which contain the DNA profile of thousands of people from persecuted ethnic minorities in China. This data is often collected in association with security forces. Computational biologist and campaigner Yves Moreau now leads the call for scrutiny and the retraction of these papers and databases, which lack evidence of free and informed consent.  
 
We often cover the ever-growing threat of bird flu to mammalian populations on Science in Action. But how does the virus make the successful leap from bird to mammal cells? Virologist Wendy Barclay discusses the potential tricks the virus uses to adapt and grow.  

And, finally, zoologist Sam Fabian has been trying to answer the question everyone thinks they already know: why are moths attracted to artificial light?  

Presenter: Roland Pease 
Producer: Ella Hubber 
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Protest in Urumqi in China's far west Xinjiang province on July 7, 2009. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)

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