Battlefield Biotech: The Rising Competition Between China and the U.S.

Whether trade wars or tech wars, the future relationship between the United States and China is poised to be one of greater competition, if not greater contention. Trade deficits and potential trade wars and the race to supremacy in artificial intelligence have garnered the biggest headlines of late, but there's another contest waging with equal ferocity: biotechnology. The gene-editing technique CRISPR is by no means the only instrument in this contest, but it is indicative of the emerging battle in the biotechnology sector. By tracking the use of the technology in both agriculture and health care, we can see clear signs of where this trend is headed. In health care and agriculture, the United States can and will raise national security concerns, just as it recently has with high-technology investments. Similarly, Beijing and Washington will become technical competitors as China's demographic and resource constraints ensure it continues to support and...