In a bizarre press release, last week FDA Commissioner Dr Marty Makary announced that the FDA would be banning collaborations with certain overseas researchers that involved american cell samples or patient DNA.
The FDA and NIH amongst other agencies will now interpret executive orders 14117 and 14292, as prohibiting use of American research funding in international projects and prohibit the exchange of human biological material with research groups that belong to ‘foreign adversaries’.
‘The previous administration turned a blind eye and allowed American DNA to be sent abroad – often without the knowledge or understanding of trial participants,’ said FDA Commissioner Dr Marty Makary. ‘The integrity of our biomedical research enterprise is paramount. We are taking action to protect patients, restore public trust, and safeguard US biomedical leadership.’
Bafflingly, in the press release, the agency’s communications staff made references to the Chinese Communist Party’s involvement in university and pharmaceutical research. In America, the USA’s federal government and state governments own and run universities, regulate research, pick and choose what research is funded and regularly collaborate with pharmaceutical firms to develop new drugs and medical procedures.
‘In light of the FDA’s actions and new information surrounding the Biden Administration’s egregious policies, NIH is actively reviewing its entire research portfolio to determine whether any federally funded clinical trials utilized the exemption issued under the Biden Administration that allowed American biological materials to be sent abroad for genetic modification – particularly to entities operating in countries of concern,’ said NIH Director Dr Jay Bhattacharya in a statement published by the US’s federal medical research funding agency.
What these government officials think was being done with ‘American DNA’ is unclear.
In executive order 14117, signed in February 2024, then US President Joe Biden attempted to ban the sale or export of bulk sensitive personal data to foreign entities. This bill was intended to prevent foreign spy agencies from using electronic data to infer the locations of sensitive sites such as military bases. On May 5th 2025, the current US president signed an executive order 14292 targeting ‘dangerous gain-of-function’ experiments and specifying that federal research funding may not be used to fund projects in China. They also refer to oligonucleotides as needing special screening to make sure they are not dangerous.
Dr Marty Makary, a surgeon who advocated against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and prolific opinion writer who describes himself as having an ‘anti-establishment’ bent, was appointed by RFK Jr to head up the FDA on April 1st 2025.
