ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, KYLIE NICHOLSON
The Chinese government is developing technology to predict people’s physical appearance based on DNA collected from Uighurs in Xinjiang province, according to an investigation published today (December 3) by The New York Times. News of the research, which parallels work on similar technology in the US, has sparked concerns that the Uighurs’ DNA samples are being obtained without proper consent, and may be used to persecute this and other predominantly Muslim minority groups.
“What the Chinese government is doing should be a warning to everybody who kind of goes along happily thinking, ‘How could anyone be worried about these technologies?’” Pilar Ossorio, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tells the Times.
At least 1 million Uighurs and members of other minority groups are being held in detention centers in Xinjiang, in northwest China. The government has collected blood samples from ...
