China's Science

The Washington Post tells the story of BGI's Zhao Bowen, a 17 year-old who began there as a summer intern working on the cucumber genome and now is delving into the genetics of intelligence. More generally, the Post article looks into China's rise in the sciences in general, and in genomics specifically and says that while some Chinese scientists are making tremendous advances, the field is plagued by scams and ethical concerns. Still, many US-educated Chinese researchers are returning to China. "If I had stayed in America, the chances of making a discovery would have been lower," says neurobiologist Luo Minmin, who is studying a gene associated with attention-deficit disorder. "Here, people are willing to take risks. They give you money, and essentially you can do whatever you want."