郑州大学公卫生学院兼职教授，安徽医科大学兼职教授，美国匹兹堡大学（The University of Pittsburgh）客座教授等。1998年毕业于中国军事医学科学院，获医学博士学位，其博士毕业论文获2000年度全国百名优秀博士论文奖。2000至2003年在美国匹兹堡大学医学院进行博士后研究。
专业擅长：主要从事肝炎病毒和新发传染病病原学和免疫学方面的研究。
主要成就：1996年和1997年在国内率先报导了HGV和TTV病毒的发现和测定了国内病毒株的全基因序列，并进行了系统的致病性研究。先后获得军队科技进步一等奖和省部级二等奖和三等奖等。建立的分子病原生物学研究室目前与美国The University of Pittsburgh大学、Paris Universty XI大学、NeW York Blood Center和香港大学等联合进行研究生和博士后的培养和科研合作。
李放為CCP病毒洗白動物起源起到關鍵作用，他3月30日在《Nature》發文「Structural basis of receptor recognition by SARS-CoV-2」揭示新冠病毒結合人體細胞的機制，闡明瞭新冠病毒如何結合人類受體， 如何從動物起源，以及對抗該病毒的策略。這篇文章引用了石正麗的RaTG13作為SARS-CoV-2的近端起源，為RaTG13站台，在科學界壯大了RaTG13的聲勢，掩蓋舟山蝙蝠病毒與SARS-CoV-2的近源關係。
The PLA’s keen interest is reflected in strategic writings and research that argue that advances in biology are contributing to changing the form or character of conflict.
In 2010’s War for Biological Dominance , Guo Jiwei , a professor with the Third Military Medical University, emphasizes the impact of biology on future warfare.
中共第三军医大学教授郭继卫在其2010年撰写的《制生权战争》一书中强调了生物学对未来战争的影响。
In 2015, then-president of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences He Fuchu argued that biotechnology will become the new “strategic commanding heights” of national defense, from biomaterials to “brain control” weapons. Maj. Gen. He has since become the vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences, which leads China’s military science enterprise.
Biology is among seven “new domains of warfare” discussed in a 2017 book by Zhang Shibo (张仕波), a retired general and former president of the National Defense University, who concludes: “Modern biotechnology development is gradually showing strong signs characteristic of an offensive capability,” including the possibility that “specific ethnic genetic attacks” could be employed.
The 2017 edition of Science of Military Strategy , a textbook published by the PLA’s National Defense University that is considered to be relatively authoritative, debuted a section about biology as a domain of military struggle, similarly mentioning the potential for new kinds of biological warfare to include “specific ethnic genetic attacks.”
These are just a few examples of an extensive and evolving literature by Chinese military scholars and scientists who are exploring new directions in military innovation.
Following these lines of thinking, the PLA is pursuing military applications for biology and looking into promising intersections with other disciplines, including brain science, supercomputing, and artificial intelligence. Since 2016, the Central Military Commission has funded projects on military brain science, advanced biomimetic systems, biological and biomimetic materials, human performance enhancement, and “new concept” biotechnology.
Meanwhile, China has been leading the world in the number of trials of the CRISPR gene-editing technology in humans. Over a dozen clinical trials are known to have been undertaken, and some of these activities have provoked global controversy. It’s not clear whether Chinese scientist He Jiankui, may have received approval or even funding from the government for editing embryos that became the world’s first genetically modified humans. The news provoked serious concerns and backlash around the world and in China, where new legislation has been introduced to increase oversight over such research. However, there are reasons to be skeptical that China will overcome its history and track record of activities that are at best ethically questionable, or at worst cruel and unusual, in healthcare and medical sciences.
But it is striking how many of China’s CRISPR trials are taking place at the PLA General Hospital, including to fight cancer. Indeed, the PLA’s medical institutions have emerged as major centers for research in gene editing and other new frontiers of military medicine and biotechnology. The PLA’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, or AMMS, which China touts as its “cradle of training for military medical talent,” was recently placed directly under the purview of the Academy of Military Science, which itself has been transformed to concentrate on scientific and technological innovation. This change could indicate a closer integration of medical science with military research.
In 2016, an AMMS doctoral researcher published a dissertation, “Research on the Evaluation of Human Performance Enhancement Technology,” which characterized CRISPR-Cas as one of three primary technologies that might boost troops’ combat effectiveness. The supporting research looked at the effectiveness of the drug Modafinil, which has applications in cognitive enhancement; and at transcranial magnetic stimulation, a type of brain stimulation, while also contending that the “great potential” of CRISPR-Cas as a “military deterrence technology in which China should “grasp the initiative” in development.
The intersection of biotechnology and artificial intelligence promises unique synergies. The vastness of the human genome — among the biggest of big data — all but requires AI and machine learning to point the way for CRISPR-related advances in therapeutics or enhancement.
In 2016, the potential strategic value of genetic information led the Chinese government to launch the National Genebank , which intends to become the world’s largest repository of such data. It aims to “develop and utilize China’s valuable genetic resources, safeguard national security in bioinformatics, and enhance China’s capability to seize the strategic commanding heights” in the domain of biotechnology.
The effort is administered by BGI, formerly known as Beijing Genomics Inc., which is Beijing’s de facto national champion in the field. BGI has established an edge in cheap gene sequencing, concentrating on amassing massive amounts of data from a diverse array of sources. The company has a global presence, including laboratories in California and Australia.
U.S. policymakers have been concerned, if not troubled, by the company’s access to the genetic information of Americans. BGIhas been pursuing a range of partnerships, including with the University of California and with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on human genome sequencing. BGI’s research and partnerships in Xinjiang also raise questions about its linkage to human rights abuses, including the forced collectionof genetic information from Uighurs in Xinjiang.
There also appear to be links between BGI’s research and military research activities, particularly with the PLA’s National University of Defense Technology. BGI’s bioinformatics research has used Tianhe supercomputers to process genetic information for biomedical applications, while BGI and NUDT researchers have collaborated on several publications, including the design of tools for the use of CRISPR.
It will be increasingly important to keep tabs on the Chinese military’s interest in biology as an emerging domain of warfare, guided by strategists who talk about potential “genetic weapons” and the possibility of a “bloodless victory.” Although the use of CRISPR to edit genes remains novel and nascent, these tools and techniques are rapidly advancing, and what is within the realm of the possible for military applications may continue to shift as well. In the process, the lack of transparency and uncertainty of ethical considerations in China’s research initiatives raise the risks of technological surprise.
