Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

[Higgenbotham]

China’s BGI says it can sequence a genome for just $100
Super-cheap DNA sequencing could boost cancer screening, prenatal tests, and research into population genetics.
By Antonio Regalado
February 26, 2020

China rivalry

BGI was founded two decades ago during China’s participation in the Human Genome Project. Since then, it has morphed from a research institute that decoded the DNA of pandas and rice plants into a sprawling conglomerate, active in animal cloning, health testing, and contract research.

Though BGI has not announced any customers for the system, known as DNBSEQ-TX, the $100 claim could resurface concerns that the US may have fumbled a technological lead by letting the Chinese firm acquire Complete Genomics in 2012.

Complete was a struggling startup pursuing innovations made by Drmanac, a Serbian émigré with a history of clever ideas for DNA sequencing. But the company needed more investment, and couldn’t yet compete with Illumina, so it accepted BGI’s discount-bin acquisition offer of around $120 million.

At the time, Illumina tried to break up the deal, likening the transaction to selling China the “formula for Coke.” It petitioned the Department of Commerce to block the takeover on national security grounds, citing the risk of a foreign enterprise getting hold of the DNA data of Americans.

The deal, however, went through, despite Illumina’s attempts to “eliminate its closest competitor,” as BGI executives put it.

The two companies continue to thrust and parry with patent lawsuits. Each accuses the other of making use of proprietary technology and, until last week, BGI had not offered to sell its instruments in the US market. It has an existing line-up of four product models, which cost up to $1 million and are sold by a subsidiary called MGI.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/0 ... ar-genome/

[tim]

The weapon is based on technology where the adversary has a large technical advantage. The US is the leader in biotechnology.

The weapon is based on technology where the adversary has a large technical advantage.

The genetic sequence for the SARS-COV2 virus was uploaded by Chinese scientists. Moderna used Chinese information to create their injection.

I didn't answer this post, but the way I would have answered it at the time would have been to say that sequencing a virus is easy due to its small size and the first party who had the virus would be able to sequence it, whether it was the US or China. I would have also said that, generally speaking, sequencing is a US technology, which the US leads in.

However, a recent news article says:

“The wheat genome is full of ­little retro elements and that has made it more difficult and, crucially, more expensive to sequence,” said Griffiths. “However, thanks to our Chinese colleagues who carried out the detailed sequencing work, we have overcome that problem.”

Griffiths and his colleagues sent samples from the Watkins collection to Cheng and were rewarded three months later with the arrival of a suitcase crammed with hard drives. These contained a petabyte – one million gigabytes – of data that had been decoded by the Chinese group using the Watkins collection.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/art ... ntists-say

Also, it came to light this year that the Chinese had sequenced the covid virus before December 28, 2019, which was the day it was uploaded into a US database for the first time (not in January 2020, as originally thought).

China has yet to use mRNA on its people.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-fi ... 27541.html

Two years after the first countries approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine for domestic use, China will finally allow the mRNA vaccine to be used domestically—but there's a catch.

On Friday, China confirmed in a press briefing that it would let German nationals receive the BioNTech COVID vaccine, which uses mRNA technology, in exchange for German health authorities on Wednesday approving China's Sinovac jab for Chinese nationals living in Germany.

Chinese bio companies manufacture the lipid nano particles that are used in the mRNA injections.

https://www.wuxibiologics.com/microbial-services-mrna/

Overview: WuXi Biologics’ services for mRNA therapeutics and vaccines

WuXi Biologics offers extensive development capabilities and GMP manufacturing capacity for mRNA therapeutics and vaccines. Our expert and highly-trained team provides end-to-end services from initial plasmid DNA manufacturing to drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) GMP production. Our GMP facilities include a microbial-based manufacturing facility with up to 300L scale fermenter for plasmid DNA production, and multiple vessels covering a wide range of reaction volumes and purification equipment for mRNA transcription and purification. In addition, state-of-the-art mRNA-LNP production systems and robotic aseptic filling systems are available for DP manufacturing. As with all of our services, the foundation of our mRNA service platform is built upon our remarkable in-house, single-sourced CMC development and manufacturing capabilities and expertise, executional excellence, and world-class quality system.

[Higgenbotham]

China dominates biotechnology, US falls behind: KoreaBIO
Kim Ji-hye Published 2024.09.05 18:18

China is seizing the lead in the global technology research arena with unprecedented speed and dominance, particularly in biotechnology, gene technologies, and vaccines, according to an industry report.

The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBIO) released a report on Thursday based on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's (ASPI) two-decade Critical Technology Tracker analysis of 2019 to 2023. The study evaluated leadership across 64 critical technologies, including biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

The results show that China now leads in 57 of these 64 technologies, a leap from the mere three it commanded between 2003 and 2007.

The U.S., which once dominated global technology with a lead in 60 out of 64 fields from 2003 to 2007, now finds itself trailing far behind, leading in just seven technologies in the latest five-year span.

China’s rise is nothing short of meteoric. From a modest presence in three technologies in the same period, it has surged to command 57 fields, an increase from 52 just a year earlier.

According to the ASPI report, China’s recent advancements in biotechnology, gene technology, and vaccines have allowed it to surpass the U.S. in annual high-impact publication rates from the late 2010s into the 2020s.

This year's findings highlight China's rapid expansion into fields like synthetic biology, quantum technologies, and advanced materials. In contrast, the U.S., which once reigned supreme, now excels in only seven areas, including quantum computing and genetic engineering, starkly contrasting its former leadership in 60 technologies from 2003 to 2007.

China’s dominance is especially notable in biotech, gene technologies, and vaccines, where it leads in four out of seven critical areas: synthetic biology, genome sequencing, vaccine technologies, and biological manufacturing, the report showed.

https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articl ... dxno=25066

[Higgenbotham]

Good grief, Bob. People aren't supposed to have kids because it's too hard? Is that the candy ass liberal justification for abortion?

In my greater family we have had lots of kids but no abortions that I know of. Kids are not hard, but considered a blessing. We have problems, but we solve them, work through them, not whining about them endlessly. Life is good, not hard.

I've been meaning to delve into this in a little more detail when the time seemed appropriate. This was quoted out of the abortion thread from late October of last year, in which I had stated earlier in the thread that, "Life is supposed to be hard when we take responsibility and do our jobs."

To start, it would help to reiterate one of what I am calling the dark age outputs. This is generally the kind of thing I had in mind when making that statement.

This will be my next project in this Dark Age Hovel: to go through all 214 pages of this hovel and summarize the factual information regarding the outputs that the managerial elite class overseeing the United States has actually generated.

Outputs Related to Toxic Exposures, Reproductive/Children's Health and Transgenerational Effects

22. "The current generation is the sickest in American history. When John F. Kennedy was president, 6% of American kids had a chronic health condition. Today it is 60%. Rates of autoimmune disease, diabetes, ADD and ADHD, autism, obesity, asthma, food allergies, and other chronic health conditions have been skyrocketing."

22. https://www.kennedy24.com/end-chronic-disease

Anyone who is a parent of one of the approximately 60% of children who has a chronic health condition has a hard row to hoe. For example, my cousin's son was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at a young age. My cousin got up in the middle of the night, every night, to check on his son. I can't even recognize my cousin compared to when we used to get together in our 20s and early 30s before this happened. His son had other chronic conditions besides the diabetes.

A parent of one of the 40% who doesn't have a chronic health condition doesn't necessarily have it easy either. A lot of those parents, and I am one of them, spend a lot of time working on trying to prevent their child from becoming part of that 60%. I was working on that before my kid was born (or even conceived, really) and have probably logged several hundred hours on that.

For the recent experience that prompted this post, my daughter starts pre-school for 4 year olds next week and there was an informal orientation meeting in the classroom yesterday. There are 6 kids in the 3 days per week option and 8 kids in the 2 days per week option. One part of the classroom wall was labeled "Food Allergies" where each child who has a food allergy had their allergy listed. Among the 6 kids there were no food allergies and among the 8 kids there were 2 with food allergies. A man looked at that and said, "Wow! No food allergies!" referring to the group of 6. He told me he had been sending his son to the school for 3 years and it would be unusual for a group of kids to have no food allergies. The teacher then told me that last year there were 2 children who had anaphylaxis in her group of kids as well as some who had less serious food allergies.

https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/f ... statistics

From the Pew Research Center:

FEATURE|AUGUST 27, 2024

Why Many Parents and Teens Think It’s Harder Being a Teen Today

Is it harder these days to be a teen? Or do today’s teenagers have it easier than those of past generations?

We asked the following question of 1,453 U.S. parents and teens: Compared with 20 years ago, do you think being a teenager today is harder, easier or about the same?

69% of parents say it’s harder
44% of teens say it’s harder

15% of parents say it’s easier
12% of teens say it’s easier

13% of parents say it’s about the same
15% of teens say it’s about the same

4% of parents say they’re not sure
29% of teens say they’re not sure

https://www.pewresearch.org/feature/why ... een-today/

Majority of parents say it is harder to be a parent now, compared to 20 years ago

Detailed Findings

1. Nearly seven in ten parents agree that it is harder to be a parent these days, compared to 20 years ago (69%).

A majority of parents (88%), regardless of the age of their child, agree that it is more expensive to be a parent these days than 20 years ago.

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/majority-pa ... -years-ago

Youth suicide rates rose 62% from 2007 to 2021: ‘People feel hopeless,’ one recent grad says

Published Tue, Dec 5 202312:10 PM EST
Updated Thu, Dec 7 202310:05 AM EST

Last year, suicide rates in the U.S. were the highest they had been since 1941, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During the last two decades, youth suicide has increased significantly. From 2007 through 2021, suicide rates for Americans ages 10 to 24 rose 62%, according to the CDC.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/05/youth-s ... -2021.html

This article didn't include a chart.



https://www.statista.com/chart/30206/su ... -us-10-24/

[Higgenbotham]

September 4, 2024

Based on the latest data, the stock market appears to be headed for a crash. Based on previous eclipse cycle patterns, the NASDAQ Index is mimicking the 10-week topping pattern that preceded the 1997 Hong Kong crash. Accordingly, the projected crash scenario is that stocks gradually decline until the September 18 eclipse arrives, and then the decline accelerates during the last two weeks of September – culminating in a massive crash. Much hope rests on the belief that the Federal Reserve Board will cut interest rates by 50 basis points two weeks from now, at the conclusion of its September 18 meeting. The bulls believe this will re-ignite an uptrend in stocks. However, this could be another instance of buying the rumor and selling the fact. The window around September 17-18 will likely be critical for the markets – encompassing both the conclusion on the next FOMC meeting and the passing of next lunar eclipse. If the 1997 Hong Kong scenario is replicated, then a record-breaking crash will soon develop, sending global equity markets into uncontrolled chaos.

This analyst proposes several crash scenarios each year. I tend to think his most recent scenario has a chance (maybe 15%?, but 15% is probably too high given my record of being wrong about this) of materializing in nearly the way he is proposing. Therefore, since the recent high, I've only been covering about 1% of my short position every 100 to 150 S&P points lower. So still have 98% of my account 2X short.

Also saw a Martin Armstrong interview where he said he believes the neocons may take the US to war this month before the election in order to trap Trump into a war in the event Trump is elected. I believe (though can't be sure because he didn't say it in this video) that Armstrong has also been looking for a September panic.

[aedens]

The swamp disease called DOC will stay Kissinger co-commited in the Truman effect.
Fund all sides to keep them over there. After October 7th and the loss of life what else is there.
Washington, Jefferson and the Founder's are still hundreds of years ahead of these global hacks.
Until these Globalists get the Trading with the Enemy act it is a feature just as the Hur report was
with the stern letter Unipartry infected cults.

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/isr ... ack-israel

That is this, and that is that voter IQ check. https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/9.FLD ... c1e359c229

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/isra ... ding-eu-un
The money is pouring in still in Dollars also.
The attack was funded by taxpayers who are decieved in NGO.
Another acronym funded trained security operative was nuetralized after a Killing.

DOJ cleaned up a telegram cracker cult as they would like to put it.

Delta Neutral sweeps as product funds underway.
.5 percent CONY and the SDS swing in the H trade with TLTW, UTWO to cash bucket for as such .5 CONY that was delta fixed.

[Higgenbotham]

According to a 2024 paper written by A. Shaji George, an information and communication technology expert who’s studied the rise of e-commerce, $800 billion worth of inventory is returned in the U.S. each year, creating a “crisis” of epic proportions. Though most of this merchandise is new and unused, 9.5 million pounds of it wind up in landfills annually. Stores’ laissez-faire attitudes surrounding return policies, coupled with the hyper-accessibility of online shopping and lack of awareness, he wrote, ultimately help drive this wasteful consumer behavior.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ ... wtab-en-us

[Higgenbotham]

The US Debt is Currently over $35T

Persistent structural issues: Unlike previous debt spikes, today's crisis is fueled by long-term, systemic problems.

https://stockinsider.substack.com/p/the ... y-over-35t

Correct. I don't 100% agree with everything I quote, but this is the key issue and how it really is different this time.

[Higgenbotham]

I don't 100% agree with everything I quote...

For example, this:

China dominates biotechnology, US falls behind: KoreaBIO
Kim Ji-hye Published 2024.09.05 18:18

China is seizing the lead in the global technology research arena with unprecedented speed and dominance, particularly in biotechnology, gene technologies, and vaccines, according to an industry report.

The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBIO) released a report on Thursday based on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's (ASPI) two-decade Critical Technology Tracker analysis of 2019 to 2023. The study evaluated leadership across 64 critical technologies, including biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

The results show that China now leads in 57 of these 64 technologies, a leap from the mere three it commanded between 2003 and 2007.

The U.S., which once dominated global technology with a lead in 60 out of 64 fields from 2003 to 2007, now finds itself trailing far behind, leading in just seven technologies in the latest five-year span.

China’s rise is nothing short of meteoric. From a modest presence in three technologies in the same period, it has surged to command 57 fields, an increase from 52 just a year earlier.

According to the ASPI report, China’s recent advancements in biotechnology, gene technology, and vaccines have allowed it to surpass the U.S. in annual high-impact publication rates from the late 2010s into the 2020s.

This year's findings highlight China's rapid expansion into fields like synthetic biology, quantum technologies, and advanced materials. In contrast, the U.S., which once reigned supreme, now excels in only seven areas, including quantum computing and genetic engineering, starkly contrasting its former leadership in 60 technologies from 2003 to 2007.

China’s dominance is especially notable in biotech, gene technologies, and vaccines, where it leads in four out of seven critical areas: synthetic biology, genome sequencing, vaccine technologies, and biological manufacturing, the report showed.

https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articl ... dxno=25066

"According to the ASPI report, China’s recent advancements...have allowed it to surpass the U.S. in annual high-impact publication rates..."

This is an indicator. "High-impact publication rates" don't necessarily mean China is ahead. But it's certainly worth paying attention to. Another reason for paying attention to it is to consider why they have been putting so much emphasis on biotech. Could it be for military purposes? That's what I believe.

[vincecate]

The US Debt is Currently over $35T

Persistent structural issues: Unlike previous debt spikes, today's crisis is fueled by long-term, systemic problems.

https://stockinsider.substack.com/p/the ... y-over-35t

Correct. I don't 100% agree with everything I quote, but this is the key issue and how it really is different this time.

Yup. Some people note we had similar debt levels after WWII but my pinned quote on twitter at https://x.com/vincecate is:

After WW2 balancing the budget was a simple matter of reducing the huge military that was no longer needed. Today it would be impossible to balance the budget. Printer is coming.