China’s brain project

Abstract

This Chapter on China’s Brain Project begins by giving some examples of how scientists are finding more and more examples of complex behaviour in lower animals and then briefly discusses why the study of macaque Non-Human Primates (NHPs) is considered to be so important for understanding the human brain. The structure of the China Brain Project is then described. This was not easy to do in late 2019 because I could not find a dedicated website for the project in English. However, there was enough published in English for me to outline the basic structure of the project, and there was no shortage of research publications in English about the work that was being financed. Some of the research work being carried out in the project is concerned with lower animals and examples of such work are noted, but the aim to study more complex behaviour in NHPs is emphasised. Before looking specifically at the research being done on NHPs in the project examples of the kind of work being carried out on macaques around the world are used to illustrate how sophisticated this research can be. Examples of studies of circuits of neurons, modulation of such circuits, and of genes, neuronal mechanisms and behaviour are given to illustrate this point. Then examples of NHP primate research being carried out within the project are reviewed, particular attention being given to work on genome editing of NHPs and studies of consciousness. Finally, the disjunction between the lack of concern with dual use within the project and the efforts of China to achieve an international code of conduct in support of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention is noted and it is suggested that at some time in the future this disjunction could be closed.