U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday unveiled an executive order barring genomic data transfers to China, as it seeks to protect American personal data over national security concerns.
The order, first reported by Reuters, will also curb bulk transfers of Americans' geolocation, biometric, health and financial information to specific "countries of concern," including Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
The directive appeared to zero in on Chinese gene companies such as BGI, barring transfer of any volume of genomic data to countries of concern.