to make sure, to the best of our ability, that whatever they are applying is good science and is done properly. GW: On the technical end, sure, but what do you take into consideration if you’re working with a country where there are concerns about how the technology might be misused, however good the science is? PB: Like all corporate citizens, we’re cognizant of countries that are imbalanced in how they apply certain policies. We try to influence those countries in appropriate and legal ways. But on the other hand, we also believe that sloppy science or poor technology doesn’t serve anybody’s aims. There are obviously disputes at hand about what is the proper balance of when the technology has the opportunity to impact the system, whether your judicial system involves a debate between the prosecutor and the state, and the defense, who gets to use the technology and how much probity it has on both sides. That’s a balancing debate, and different people come out in different ways on that. I happen to believe personally in broad access. For instance, I don’t believe that all arrestees should have their DNA taken and they should become the pool. Or, at least, if you start to go down that road, you have to have a totally non-discriminatory policy, which is that everyone in the country has to give a DNA sample as a part of citizenship. I think you could make an argument that that would be a fairer system. GW: How much do you know about some of the specific projects that Life Technologies is working on right now? For instance, there’s a new database that they’re working on in Russia that Life Technologies appears to have some role in—maybe just supplying technology, maybe more than that? PB: I don’t know many specifics as 20 GeneWatch
the medical and forensic functions are separate. I know that we have a contract in Russia, to provide them technology, but I don’t know anything about the database that they’re trying to develop or not. GW: What about in India? There’s a controversial DNA database bill being discussed there; also, earlier this year, Life Technologies established a distribution center in Bangalore. Is that a coincidence? PB: We are one of the largest suppli-
ers of general research reagents to the laboratory industry in India, so the fact that we would build a distribution center there may have nothing to do with the forensics line at all.
providers—we’re not the only provider, but I would say we’re the premier provider—the providers bid, and the country makes a determination based on those bids. It’s like getting a grant: they’re deciding who they want to invest in. GW: When you’re responding to the request for proposals, what kinds of things are being asked? What is this contract? Is it just to provide technology? PB: Yes, almost always. there are usually components of [the request for proposals], and maybe they put it all out as a single request, or sometimes they break it up, but there is the supplying of a laboratory with the components so it can do this kind of testing, and do it effectively; then there’s kind of an informatics solution, where you need software that can take stored data and compare it to new data; and then you need all the informatics to be able to database the stuff so that you can make those comparisons. Then, of course, there’s a huge amount of quality assurance involved, to make sure that once the laboratory is doing these analyses, there are controls, and that the quality of the lab result remains high. So companies bid on different parts of that. As I say, sometimes it’s a one or two component request, sometimes it’s a multi-component request.
GW: I’m curious about how it works for a private company to work with a national government, setting up a new national forensic DNA database. Does the company approach the country?
GW: I was under the impression that there was more happening where companies would be taking the initiative with a country—maybe where there is some interest happening already—
PB: No, the other way around. In general, the policy issue is resolved in whatever way that particular political entity resolves those issues; so they decide that as a matter of policy, they want to do some forensic DNA identification program. Then they usually put out a request for proposals, and
PB: The fact that there is a company like Life Technologies which has a business line to supply the labs that do DNA identification or forensics … we would be the last ones you would ask for an opinion about whether you should be doing this program or not, because we have a clear conflict of October-November 2011