{"id":1531126,"date":"2025-04-18T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1531126"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:05:00","slug":"potential-sale-of-americans-dna-in-23andme-database-may-trigger-national-security-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/potential-sale-of-americans-dna-in-23andme-database-may-trigger-national-security-review\/1531126\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential Sale Of Americans’ DNA In 23andMe Database May Trigger National Security Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Potential Sale Of Americans’ DNA In 23andMe Database May Trigger National Security Review<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a formal notice to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, which is overseeing the Chapter 11 case of defunct 23andMe Holding Co<\/a>. (Case No. 25-40976), warning that the potential sale of its assets\u2014including a\u00a0gigantic pool of millions of Americans’ genetic data<\/strong>\u2014may trigger a national security review<\/strong> by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming wrote in a filing that 23andMe is prohibited from selling the genetic data of more than 15 million customers to “covered persons<\/strong>“\u2014companies classified as foreign entities<\/strong> that are 50% or more owned by entities based in countries such as China, Russia, and North Korea<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Fleming’s notice does not ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh to take action against any potential 23andMe transactions. Instead, the U.S. government is requesting that CFIUS review<\/strong> any sale of genetic data to ensure foreign adversaries are not using shell companies to acquire it.<\/p>\n

Safeguarding the\u00a0gigantic pool of genetic data of Americans is a national security priority<\/strong>\u00a0because of the increasing risk that precision bioweapons<\/em><\/strong> can be designed to target specific genetic traits or ethnic groups, based on shared DNA markers.<\/p>\n

For example, if a hostile actor or rogue group linked to Iran or the\u00a0Chinese Communist Party<\/strong>\u00a0accessed\u00a0genomic data,\u00a0they could develop pathogens that are more\u00a0virulent or lethal to those with certain genetic traits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last month,\u00a0James O’Keefe of O’Keefe Media Group stoked maximum fears<\/a> after releasing a video featuring an undercover journalist speaking with Nathaniel Johnson, a policy advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.<\/p>\n

In the footage, Johnson suggested that 23andMe may have already sold off users’ genetic data: “Do not give your information to those people [23andMe]… they sell it to other people<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Johnson explained:\u00a0“There’s a clause in their contract, that basically says, like, we can give your information to our shareholders. So that they can do stuff. And all of their shareholders are, like pharmaceutical companies. But some of those\u00a0pharmaceutical companies are based in other countries, and those\u00a0pharmaceutical companies in other countries are like the property of, like the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Or, like, owned, by China.”<\/p>\n

We have a U.S. Treasury Policy Advisor on tape telling us 23andMe has been sharing consumer data with “pharmaceutical companies,” including the “Ministry of Defense of Russia.”<\/p>\n

Seems like they\u2019ve got bigger issues than financial instability. https:\/\/t.co\/WEHfnilncw<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ROGQWCqvgW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) March 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The risks of genetic data being weaponized for\u00a0biological warfare<\/strong> should be on the minds of the Trump administration as the great power competition with China goes into hyperdrive by the 2030s.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 \u00a0*\u00a0 \u00a0*\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the filing here:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 04\/18\/2025 – 09:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/technology\/potential-sale-americans-dna-23andme-database-may-trigger-national-security-review<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Potential Sale Of Americans’ DNA In 23andMe Database May Trigger National Security Review The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a formal notice to the U.S….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1531127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1531126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6qjA","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/2025-04-18_08-11-46-h4PRAV.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1531126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1531126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1531126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1531127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1531126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1531126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1531126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}