Arequipa, Peru – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the USA have prohibited scientists from China and five other “countries of concern”, including Cuba, accessing 21 biomedical databases, which contain information on genetic variation, cancer cases, neurodegenerative diseases and more.
A magazine report Science It indicates that the measure, taken on April 2 by the administration of President Donald Trump, intensifies an effort that has been for some time to prevent foreign access to data considered sensitive, and also stops the projects that involve these databases and that include collaborators of the mentioned countries.
Pedro Antonio Valdés Sosa, a neuroinformatic of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, has used one of the affected databases on child brain development in his research.
“At a time when the study of genetic variation is essential to identify the causes and priests of diseases, this seems like a useless expression of resentment (…) the indicated databases include some that are” crucial to understand brain disorders, “says the expert.
The other countries excluded from access to databases are Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
In this regard, another of those affected by the measure is Gladys Maestre, a Venezuelan neuroscientific that works at the University of Texas in the Valley of the Rio Grande, who collaborates in research on Alzheimer’s disease with scientists in his native country.
“This could be really devastating for the few good scientists who are still in Venezuela (…) you need real data of real people to test your hypotheses,” says the specialist.
Former President Joe Biden had imposed some restrictions on foreign access to the databases, but the new regulation, published on April 2 and first reported by Fierce Biotech, hardens them significantly.
It is a “technical update” of a standard issued by the US Department of Justice.
The DOJ warned that Intelligence services Hostiles could use these data for blackmail and coercion, identify high -risk government staff and sensitive locations, as well as for offensive cyber operations.
In addition, access to “massive human genomic data,” according to the agency in January, could help adversaries develop new biological weapons.
