BGI plans foray into consumer products

BGI Group, one of the country's leading gene sequencing firms, is stepping up efforts to turn its life-science research and industrial capabilities into consumer products, signaling a strategic push to capitalize on everyday health, nutrition, skincare, and pet care markets.

Yang Shuang, senior vice-president at the company, said BGI's long-term goal is to extend life-science technologies beyond laboratories and professional settings into "daily life scenarios", building what he described as a multi-tier consumer health ecosystem anchored in genomics.

In the past, genetic technology was mostly understood by the public as scientific research, clinical use, or high-end testing technology, Yang said. "But with declining sequencing costs, the miniaturization of equipment, advances in artificial intelligence capabilities, and growing consumer health awareness, life science technology is moving out of professional institutions and heading into households, communities and everyday consumption scenarios."

High-end technology becoming more accessible to the public, health management becoming more proactive, and consumer products becoming more technology-empowered will constitute key industry trends going forward, Yang added.

BGI's strategy reflects a broader shift among biotechnology firms attempting to commercialize advances in sequencing and AI as costs fall and consumer demand for personalized health services rises.

At the core of BGI's approach is its vertically integrated platform spanning sequencing hardware, algorithms and multi-omics datasets. The company said this stack allows it to convert research outputs into scalable consumer applications.

A central infrastructure asset is its high-throughput sequencing facility, GigaLab, marketed as a "lights-out" automated lab capable of 24/7 sample processing. The system integrates proprietary sequencing platforms, mass spectrometry devices and automated sample preparation workflows designed to standardize large-scale biological testing.

BGI is also expanding its AI capabilities in health interpretation. Its AI-driven assistant "i99" is positioned as a consumer-facing tool that translates multi-omics data into understandable health recommendations and daily routine guidance.

The company is accelerating its efforts in sectors including consumer genetic testing, food safety, consumer health and skin care, and microbiome products, said the top executive.

In consumer genetic testing, BGI is developing handheld and rapid testing devices aimed at bringing genetic testing closer to point-of-care use. For example, BGI developed an alcohol testing kit, which is a palm-sized handheld rapid detection device based on BGI's proprietary sequencing technology. Through a simple operation, a congenital alcohol metabolism capacity assessment report can be obtained in 20 minutes.

In consumer health and skincare, BGI is leveraging biological research — ranging from regenerative biology to cellular studies — to develop cosmetic and wellness products marketed as science-backed formulations.

In pet health, the company is applying sequencing technologies to pet genetics, covering disease risk profiling, lineage tracing and behavioral analysis.

BGI said it is also expanding into personalized microbiome products.

In the proactive health field, the company will continue to promote the application of multi-omics data-driven health improvement solutions.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn