Unethical collection of Uyghur DNA samples prompts prominent journal to retract study, experts contend

In June, Elsevier, a Dutch publisher, announced the retraction of a scientific article published in 2019 in its journal “Forensic Science International: Genetics.” The retraction was attributed to the failure to meet necessary ethical approvals in scientific research, The Guardian reported.

The deleted study, entitled “Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel,” was authored by Chinese and Danish researchers in Ürümqi.

It involved the collection of blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghurs and Kazakhs, which were then tested using genetic sequencing technology developed by the American biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific.

In the redaction notice, the journal said that an investigation revealed that those who collected the samples did not obtain the necessary ethical approval.

Yves Moreau, a professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium, has raised the concern that the Chinese government forcibly collects and arbitrarily uses genetic information from Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur Service quoted him as saying that he had been critical of the 2019 study for a considerable period of time before it was finally deleted.