Sometimes the technology sold by anyone in the world can be “misused” by countries that buy it. The recent example in today’s Wall Street Journal shows how self righteous that can be. A few US Congressmen have decided China’s use of DNA testing equipment sold by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc, based in Massachusetts, means the US should ban the use of this technology to China. That is not very rational thinking.
We have seen this kind of thing over the years with military technology that is also used in commercial spaces, the “dual use” of such things. Rocket motors, aircraft engines, metals resistant to damage, etc. can all be used for military and civilian uses and that complicates their sale. This is a little different. The concern with DNA testing is not related to military applications. It is used for surveillance. Cameras, banking software, fingerprint and facial recognition systems, thermal imaging equipment, AI software can all be used for surveillance and that is both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. I’m pretty happy with my surveillance cameras and my GPS location services but both of these track my movements and, occasionally, those of my neighbors. There is no big hue and cry about selling iPhones in China even though they can do quite a bit of surveillance and probably do. Singling out DNA equipment does not make sense.
The fact is, our export laws recognize restrictions on dual use by civilian and military but not by a State for surveillance unless that comes from a satellite or some other intelligence gathering method. DNA fits nowhere into that kind of equation, and trying to apply it here is breaking new ground that doesn’t need to be broken.
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