{"id":224022,"date":"2020-05-22T10:15:49","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=224022"},"modified":"2023-11-14T20:41:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T02:41:59","slug":"screening-avoid-down-syndrome-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/screening-avoid-down-syndrome-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"Biotech firm: Screening to ‘avoid’ babies with Down syndrome is a ‘cash cow’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Right to Life UK<\/a>) – A Chinese biotech firm has declared \u201cscreening out\u201d<\/em> babies with Down syndrome is a \u201ccash cow\u201d<\/em> funding the growth of the whole business.<\/p>\n

The admission comes from a spokesperson for BGI Group \u2013 a Chinese genetics conglomerate whose main business is offering non-invasive prenatal tests, primarily used to diagnose Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

In a segment from an Aljazeera documentary titled Genesis 2.0<\/a>, the spokesperson gestures towards a digital map of the world and says: \u201cYou can see clearly, especially for Down\u2019s syndrome, we have nearly two million samples all over the world. This part is, what we call, BGI\u2019s cash cow, making money to support the growth of the whole group.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dismissing a query over potential ethical concerns, she coldly adds: \u201c\u2026with the use of our technology, we could avoid the birth of birth defect, like a Down\u2019s syndrome birth, a Down\u2019s syndrome child, we can screen them out, we can avoid the birth of them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n