In 2004, BGI became associated with Thailand because of an international public welfare rescue. In the following 20 years, under the friendship concept of "China-Thailand community with a shared future", BGI has worked closely with Thailand** and its partners to promote gene technology for the benefit of Thailand.
In order to deeply interpret the story of BGI and Thailand, we interviewed Wang Jian, chairman and co-founder of BGI Group, and Li Li, a witness to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami rescue, and went to Thailand to interview and exchange views with a number of local partners and the Xingtai Gene team, a joint venture company of BGI. Thematic content will be available in the near future. Today, I would like to take a look back at the 20 years of connection and cooperation between BGI and Thailand.
With practical actions, interpret a "infatuated heart".
On 26 December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami occurred. This devastating catastrophe caused 22With 60,000 deaths, it was the deadliest tsunami disaster in the world in more than 200 years.
In the face of sudden natural disasters, BGI immediately set up a DNA identification team to rush to the tsunami-stricken areas in Thailand to support the identification of the victims. This is the first time that China has sent DNA identification professionals overseas to participate in the rescue.
BGI DNA Identification Rescue Team and International Rescue Team.
At the scene, teams such as Interpol, Thailand** and BGI Appraisal Team discussed post-disaster relief matters. The difficult environment that ordinary people can not accept, the DNA identification of thousands of corpses, and the high cost ......These challenges are not easy for rescue teams in various countries, and it is equally difficult for BGI team members to make decisions. After understanding the situation, Wang Jian, chairman of Huada Group, immediately replied: "It's free, do it all." ”
In 2005, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand, under the witness of the then Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, the Chinese side handed over the DNA identification results of more than 1,000 tsunami victims completed by BGI to Thailand**, which was solemnly thanked by the Thai side.
In the face of sudden major disasters, BGI interpreted the friendship concept of "China and Thailand as a family" with practical actions, and also let Thailand** see BGI's active commitment to social responsibility. As a result, BGI has gradually started cooperation with Thailand.
Over the past 20 years, BGI has had close exchanges with Thailand** and its partners, and has achieved many valuable international cooperation results. At present, BGI and relevant institutions in Thailand have reached comprehensive cooperation in various fields such as public health, genome research, precision medicine, and talent training, to jointly promote the development of the life sciences field in Thailand, so that cutting-edge technology can benefit more people in Thailand.
Cutting-edge technology for the development of life sciences in Thailand
In China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative with "Thailand 4In the context of strategic integration and development, based on its own advantages in scientific and technological innovation, BGI has made in-depth explorations with Thai partners to promote the development of life science research in Thailand and even Southeast Asia.
In 2018, BGI cooperated with relevant life science research and industrial units in Thailand to jointly promote the Thai Genome Project and Precision Medicine Program.
In the same year, BGI signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with the Royal College Chulabhorn and the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to jointly build a national platform for precision medicine in Thailand. As part of the Thailand Precision Medicine Alliance, the collaboration complements the overall precision medicine cooperation in Thailand that BGI has negotiated with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education.
BGI signed cooperation agreements with the Royal College Chulabhorn and the National Eastern Economic Corridor of Thailand
In 2022, Thailand officially launched the "Comprehensive Action Plan for Genomics", which plans to sequence the whole genome of 50,000 Thais, and promote research progress in personalized diagnosis, drug selection and ** around five major research directions, including rare diseases, cancer, non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, and pharmacogenomics.
The genome sequencing laboratory of the project was built in Dongfang University, and two MGI DNBSEQ-T7RS ultra-high-throughput gene sequencers have been deployed. As of November 2023, the lab has delivered data for more than 22,000 samples.
In February 2023, BGI Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chulalongkorn University School of Medicine to jointly establish a spatiotemporal omics research center to further strengthen local scientific research capacity and promote the application of BGI's spatiotemporal omics technology in tumor research and cell research.
In March, BGI Group signed a tripartite memorandum of cooperation with INNOBIC (Asia), a pharmaceutical company under the National Energy Corporation of Thailand, and Xingtai Gene, a joint venture of BGI in Thailand, to jointly promote the construction of an international life science innovation center and promote the development of genomics technology, spatiotemporal omics technology, and cell ** in scientific research and clinical fields.
Huada Group signed a tripartite memorandum of cooperation with INNOBIC (Asia) and Xingtai Gene.
Accurate testing to promote gene technology for the benefit of Thailand
Since the establishment of cooperation with Thailand, BGI has launched a series of genetic testing services in the fields of reproductive health, infectious diseases, tumor prevention and control, and chronic disease management, continuously contributing to the development of precision medicine in Thailand and promoting gene technology to benefit the Thai people.
Since 2012, BGI has been working closely with the Thai Red Cross Society, and introduced the first prenatal screening test (NIFTY) at Chulalongkorn Hospital in that year. At that time, Thailand's prenatal screening technology was still in the development stage, and BGI's highly advantageous products were widely recognized in Thailand, and nearly 100,000 cases of non-invasive prenatal genetic screening tests were carried out for Thai people in 10 years.
In 2017, BGI and local partners established a joint venture company, Xingtai Gene, in Thailand, which is committed to providing a number of clinical genetic testing services, including non-invasive prenatal genetic testing, non-invasive early screening genetic testing for colorectal cancer (colotect), genetic testing for hereditary deafness, genetic testing for thalassemia and other medical testing services.
In July 2023, BGI signed a memorandum of understanding with Sirila School of Medicine, Mahidol University, Xingtai Gene, and Hemu Gene on improving the prevention and treatment of thalassemia, and jointly carrying out cell and gene cooperation, and will jointly devote themselves to the research on the prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of thalassemia, and carry out the clinical trial cooperation of thalassemia gene** in Thailand.
BGI signed a memorandum of cooperation with Mahidol University Sirira School of Medicine, Xingtai Gene, and Hemu Gene.
Previously, BGI's thalassemia genetic testing and deafness genetic screening projects were included in the first batch of key projects of the "Deep Lancang-Mekong System". Through a series of public welfare activities such as genetic testing in the Lancang-Mekong countries, the project helps alleviate the problem of "poverty due to illness and return to poverty due to illness" and improve the well-being of local people.
In addition, BGI is collaborating with Oriental University to promote the popularization of early colorectal cancer screening by providing testing services to patients at the Faculty of Medicine of Oriental University in Thailand.
In September, BGI cooperated with the Medical Bureau of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand to build a hereditary tumor testing service laboratory based on the DNBSEQ-G99 platform independently developed by BGI to accelerate business cooperation in various fields. The laboratory has officially started operations in November 2023.
In addition, in the field of public health, BGI adheres to the spirit of "Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" and donated "Fire Eye" laboratory air film and nucleic acid detection kits to the Ministry of Health of Thailand during the global pandemic, further helping Thailand improve its public health system and help it better fight against public health issues such as the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic and other epidemic diseases.
"Fire Eye" laboratory air film donation ceremony.
In terms of cultivating innovative talents, BGI has reached cooperation with Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, Oriental University, etc., and will cultivate more talents in the field of genomics for Thailand through joint genomics education projects, and serve the healthy life of the Thai people with cutting-edge technology.
BGI signed a memorandum of cooperation with Chulalongkorn University School of Medicine.
In terms of future agricultural development, the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand and local partners have shown strong interest in BGI's perennial rice, animal and plant genome research, and molecular breeding platform, and will explore cooperation opportunities through close exchanges.
Wang Jian and his entourage visited the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand.
In 2022, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Thailand, China and Thailand signed a series of strategic action plans, which took another big step forward in China-Thailand relations.
In December of the same year, Wang Jian, chairman of Huada Group, went to Thailand to conduct in-depth communication with relevant departments and partners in Thailand. Thailand** recognized the achievements of 20 years of cooperation with BGI, and hoped to further strengthen cooperation with BGI in the fields of genome research, disease prevention and control, precision medicine, agriculture, and joint talent training, so as to help "Thailand 40" and the Eastern Economic Corridor program.
In the future, BGI Group will continue to give full play to the advantages of the integration of production, education and research, actively promote the implementation of cooperation in Thailand, and write more new chapters for the traditional friendship of "China and Thailand are one family".