Concerns have been raised that academic publishers may not be doing enough to investigate the ethical standards of the research they publish, after a paper based on genetic data from the Uyghur population in China was retracted and questions were raised about several others, including one article currently being published by Oxford. University Press.
In June, Elsevier, a Dutch academic publisher, retracted an article titled “Analysis of Uyghur and Kazakh populations using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel” published in 2019.
The study by Chinese and Danish researchers used blood and saliva samples from 203 Uyghur and Kazakh people living in Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, to evaluate the use of genetic sequencing technology developed by Thermo Fisher Scientific, an American biotech company, on the two minority groups. ethnic groups. The authors outlined the need for the research and suggested that better DNA sequencing could help police identify suspects in cases. “A clear understanding of genetic variation is important for understanding the origins and demographic history of population ethnicity in Xinjiang… [which] can provide an investigative lead for the police.”
The retraction notice stated that the article had been retracted at the request of the journal that published it, Forensic Science International: Genetics, after investigations revealed that the relevant ethical approval had not been obtained for the collection of the genetic samples.
Mark Munsterhjelm, a professor at the University of Windsor in Ontario who specializes in racism in genetic research, said the fact that the paper was published at all was “typical of the culture of complicity in forensic genetics that uncritically accepts and informs ethics.” is. consent claims regarding vulnerable populations”.
Concerns have also been raised about an article in a magazine sponsored by China’s Ministry of Justice. The study, titled Sequencing of human identification markers in an Uyghur population, analyzed genetic data of Uyghurs based on blood samples collected from individuals in the capital Xinjiang, in northwest China. Yves Moreau, a professor of engineering at the University of Leuven, in Belgium, who focuses on DNA analysis, expressed concern that the subjects in the study may not have freely consented to the use of their DNA samples. He also argued that the investigation “enables further mass surveillance of Uighur people.”
It appeared in the June 2022 issue of the journal Forensic Sciences Research (FSR), which was acquired by Oxford University Press in 2023. The study was supported in part by a research grant from the Xinjiang Police College and was authored by three of the same scientists. as the withdrawn Elsevier paper.
It has not been formally placed under ethical review by the journal’s editors, or by OUP, which hosts the journal.
Duarte Nuno Vieira, the co-editor-in-chief of FSR, denied that financial support from the Chinese Ministry of Justice had any influence on the magazine’s editorial policy, calling the suggestion “ethically objectionable.”
Both articles are based on research conducted in Xinjiang, where there are widespread reports of human rights abuses. In addition to a widespread system of detention camps, the region’s people – mainly Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities – are subject to a high level of state surveillance.
Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group found mainly in Xinjiang, which is part of China, but whose ancestry comes from both Central Asia and mainland China. They have long had a fractious relationship with Beijing, which accuses many of them of trying to break away from Chinese rule.
Experts say people in Xinjiang may not be able to freely agree to participate in research studies.
In both articles, one of the researchers, Halimureti Simayijiang, was connected to China’s state security apparatus through the Xinjiang Police College, exacerbating these concerns.
Maya Wang, Asia associate director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Given how coercive the overall environment has been for the Uyghurs [in China]it is not really possible for Uighurs to say no [to the collection of DNA].”
The Biden administration recently lifted sanctions on the Forensic Science Institute of China’s Ministry of Public Security in an effort to facilitate cooperation on fentanyl control. The institute had been subject to sanctions since 2020 over alleged abuse of Uyghurs.
Questions about links to China
On November 19, Moreau formally expressed concern about the research on Uyghur DNA published in Forensic Sciences Research.
The article states that “written informed consent” was obtained from each of the 264 Uighurs who provided blood samples. In an email to Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, which was seen by the Guardian, Moreau said: “The standard for informed consent is free informed consent,” which he said is impossible in the context of Xinjiang.
An OUP spokesperson noted that the article was accepted and published by FSR before OUP began publishing the journal. They said: “While the article has been peer-reviewed and research ethics statements and disclosures are included on the article page, we will work with the journal’s editors to investigate the concerns raised and the information we have received.”
The authors of the article are Simayijiang, Niels Morling and Claus Børsting from the department of forensic genetics at the University of Copenhagen. Simayijiang is listed as jointly affiliated with the Xinjiang Police College. These three scientists are the authors of the article that Elsevier retracted in June, together with Torben Tvedebrink, a data scientist.
The University of Copenhagen said Simayijiang was no longer affiliated with the university, having left in 2020. Both the retracted article and the article about which Moreau raised concerns were submitted before Simayijiang left the university.
Nuno Vieira said FSR was “completely impartial and transparent” and that the journal’s editorial board included “some of the most recognized and respected forensic professionals and academics in the world”.
He said he would raise the ethical concerns with the magazine’s relevant staff, adding: “There has never (I repeat, never) been any interference or action” by the Chinese Ministry of Justice.
Hans Bräuner, the vice dean for research at the University of Copenhagen’s faculty of health and medical sciences, said that since concerns were first raised about the ethics of data collection in Xinjiang in 2020, the university has introduced a number of measures to improve controls. on sensitive research, including the establishment of a data management unit and a security checklist for risk assessments of international research.
Two other papers on Uyghur and Kazakh genetic data by Simayijiang, Morling and Børsting, together with a fourth author, Vania Pereira, also from the University of Copenhagen, are under official ethical review by the journal in which they were published. Bräuner said his faculty had only been made aware of the concerns about these papers, published in December in Forensic Sciences International: Genetics, but had contacted the journal’s editor-in-chief to clarify the matter.
None of the researchers responded to requests for comment.
Experts say the articles represent the tip of the iceberg of scientific research that may not meet ethical standards for data collection, and in some cases could help develop surveillance technologies that could be used to violate human rights, especially among minority groups .
Thermo Fisher, owner of the DNA sequencing kit evaluated in the June retracted article, said in 2019 that it would stop selling its equipment in Xinjiang.
In recent years, there has been increasing scrutiny of scientific research based on material from populations in China who may not be able to freely consent, especially ethnic minority groups. Bioethicists first began raising concerns in 2019, leading respected journals to retract several papers based on minority genetic material.
Scientists say publishers are still too willing to accept research that could raise ethical concerns and too slow to respond to complaints.
Moreau has raised concerns about dozens of articles. In November, he received the Einstein Foundation Prize for “vigorously” advocating for “ethical standards in the use of human DNA data,” the jury said.
According to Moreau’s analysis, between 2011 and 2018, more than 20% of published forensic population genetics research in China focused on Uighurs, despite the fact that they make up less than 1% of the population. Tibetans have an even higher “surveillance ratio”.
Moreau said: “Although Uighurs are interesting to study from a genetic perspective because they are a mixed population with both East Asian and Eurasian ancestry, and Tibetans are interesting because of their adaptation to high altitude, research on these groups is surprisingly intense. ”
A Chinese government spokesperson said: “China is a country where the law applies. The privacy of all Chinese citizens, regardless of their ethnic background, is protected by law.”