The United States has long been the [genomic] industrys undisputed leader,but now China is emerging as Americas fiercest competitor.

Im very frustrated at how aggressively China is investing in this space while the U.S. is not moving with the same kind of purpose, said Eric Schadt, director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai. China has established themselves as a really competitive force.

For China, the genomics revolution has been a chance to showcase its technical prowess as well as cultivate homegrown innovationTo succeed over the next generation, China hopes to emulate Western-style entrepreneurship to transform its economy.

[T]his past spring, Chinese officials launched a $9 billion investment in precision medicine, a wide-ranging initiative to not only sequence genes, but also develop customized new drugs using that data. The funding dwarfs a similar effort announced by President Obama a year ago that has an uncertain future in Trumps new administration.

The U.S. system has more dexterity and agility than the Chinese system, said [Denis Simon, executive vice chancellor of Duke Kunshan University in China]. But the learning curve in China is very powerful, and the Chinese are moving fast. The question is not if. The question is when.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Chinas $9 billion effort to beat the U.S. in genetic testing

Read more from the original source:

China aggressively challenges US lead in precision medicine - Genetic Literacy Project