Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group: The essence of technology empowering health is to find an “escape ticket” against aging for life | WISE2025 King of Business Conference

In 2025, the business world stands at the crossroads of old and new. Amid the reconstruction of business narratives and the sweeping wave of technology, the WISE2025 Business King Conference, with the theme of "The Scenery Here is Exceptionally Beautiful", aims to anchor the definite future of Chinese business in the face of uncertainties. Here, we record the opening chapter of this intellectual feast and capture the voices of those who remain steadfast in the changing situation.

From November 27th to 28th, the 36Kr WISE2025 Business King Conference, hailed as the "annual technology and business trendsetter", was held at the Conduction Space in the 798 Art District, Beijing.

This year's WISE is no longer a traditional industry summit but an immersive experience in the form of "technology - themed short dramas". From AI reshaping the boundaries of hardware to embodied intelligence opening the door to the real world; from brand globalization in the wave of going global to traditional industries equipping with "cyber prosthetics" - what we restore is not only trends but also the true insights honed through numerous business practices.

In the following content, we will dissect the real logic behind these "exciting dramas" frame by frame and witness the "exceptionally beautiful scenery" of the 2025 business world.

On the morning of November 27th, Yin Ye, the CEO of BGI Group, delivered a speech titled "Artificial Intelligence 'Feels a Year in a Day', and Human Lifespan 'Gets One Extra Year for Every Three Years'".

The following is the transcript of Yin Ye's speech, edited by 36Kr:

Good morning, everyone. I'm glad to see you again.

Recently, I've noticed that many people are getting the order wrong on the path of pursuing life values. Life is long. In 1949, the average life expectancy might have been less than 39 years, while today, the average life expectancy of the population in Beijing is close to 84 years. From the start of your entrepreneurship to the end of your life, there may still be six or seven decades. So, don't be too hasty and just wait for the flowers to bloom. All results are good. If not, it may be because it's not the end yet.

So, today I particularly want to talk to you about what kind of state we should be in to embrace the next era.

The currently popular artificial intelligence technology is developing at an astonishing speed, "feeling a year in a day". For example, Nano Banana, which many people have been using recently, has made many designers feel that they can retire. Another example is that Trump recently signed the "Genesis Project" (Note: a national plan aiming to transform the way of scientific research and accelerate scientific discovery using artificial intelligence technology) with the goal of using AI to integrate all government data. In my opinion, this is a showdown between China and the United States in the field of artificial intelligence.

However, today, human lifespan might "get one extra year for every three years". That is, for every three years of life, technology helps you live one more year. Later, we hope to gradually reach the stage of "getting one extra year for every two years" and "getting one extra year for every one year", which means that the rapid development of technology helps you obtain an "escape ticket" for life.

In the past two hundred years, it's an undeniable fact that human health has been continuously improving and life expectancy has been continuously increasing. About 50 years ago, when many medical technologies were not yet popular, people might have died of infectious diseases. But today, the main causes of human death are more likely to be chronic diseases, especially tumors and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

For all of you here, there are several things to avoid: malignant tumors, cardiovascular diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases. These three diseases together account for 70% of the current causes of death in China. Note that the proportion is even higher in rural areas. Currently, your health is highly related to your lifestyle, cognition, educational background, and educational level. Note that don't blame everything on genes. Genes account for at most 20% - 30% of the factors, and most of the other problems stem from your lifestyle and self - discipline. If genes are like a trigger, when it's pulled depends on the environment.

So, we've proposed the question: Is there a chance to end tumors? Let's look at some data. The slogan of the "MD Anderson Cancer Center", the best cancer treatment institution in the United States, is "Cancer Ends Here". Currently, the 5 - year survival rate for tumors in the United States and Japan is about 70%. In China, it's about 42% - 46%, and the mid - line target of "Healthy China 2030" is also around 46.6%.

In other words, there is still a gap of more than twenty percentage points. This is not because our doctors are not good at performing surgeries, but because the concept of "prevention is more important than treatment" has not been well - known to more Chinese people.

For example, colorectal cancer is highly prevalent worldwide. If it's detected at the first stage, nearly 90% of patients can survive for more than 5 years. But if it's detected at the fourth stage, only 15.7% of patients can survive for another 5 years. Why? No matter how difficult a tumor is, if it's detected early and when it's small, it may be curable.

On average, a person has 37 trillion cells, and the total number of molecules in a cell is about 10 to the 21st power. Let's think about a question: Who can copy a 6G file one trillion times in a year? The correct answer is child - bearing. A fertilized egg contains 6 picograms of DNA, and its code in ATCG is exactly 6G. When a mother's womb turns it into a new - born baby in 280 days, it becomes a body of one trillion cells.

So, humans are the most precise robots. Why do today's humanoid robots may lack "aesthetic appeal"? Essentially, the human life large - scale model is the result of continuous evolution in the real physical world over 3.8 billion years.

We must also respect tumors. BGI has cooperated with local governments in Harbin, Ordos and other places to conduct colorectal cancer screening. If the result is positive, we arrange for the person to have a colonoscopy. If there is a problem with the colonoscopy result, we handle it immediately, forming a closed - loop. Only in this way can we truly achieve the indicators of "Healthy China" within a controllable cost. We must shift from "treatment - centered" to "prevention - centered" and then to "health - centered".

Next, is there a chance to end metabolic diseases? Simply put, these are a series of chronic diseases such as "three highs" and even "four highs" and "five highs". Taking cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases as an example, according to the statistical rate of one in a hundred thousand, for every five people in China who die of such diseases, the corresponding numbers in the UK, the US, and Japan are 2, 3, and 1 respectively. In this sense, compared with Japan, we still have about an 80% reduction space in the aspect of prevention.

Due to time limitations today, we may not be able to discuss the details of how to do it. But there are some preventive measures that you must take even if you're very busy, such as controlling your weight, controlling your blood pressure, drinking more tea and less alcohol, using more vinegar and less salt, drinking more water and using less oil, and exercising more and sitting less. You must find a way to extend your life to the maximum.

Why control your weight? At the beginning of this year, the National Health Commission put forward the slogan "The country calls on you to lose weight". What will happen if you don't lose weight? By 2030, the overweight/obesity rate among Chinese adults will reach 70%, and the overweight/obesity rate among children will also reach 31%. When we control our weight, maintain good sleep, and exercise moderately, some diseases, especially some chronic health problems, will be cured without treatment.

Next, what will happen if the average human life expectancy reaches 90 years? The average life expectancy in Hong Kong is already 87 or 88 years. If we want to reach 90 years, what needs to be overcome? That is the cognitive impairment that everyone is worried about, the degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, especially Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease. For Parkinson's disease, Japan has approved stem - cell therapy. For Alzheimer's disease, in the past three years, we've seen the listing of monoclonal antibodies, research on transcranial magnetic stimulation technology, and even the emergence of surgical treatment methods. The research on stem - cell therapy has also shown initial signs. I think at this speed, within about 5 to 10 years, we'll be able to find a way to control Alzheimer's disease before the middle stage, and it's even possible to delay or reverse it.

Next, can we all live to be over a hundred years old? There are several interesting results recently. There is a popular science book in Japan called "Aging Can Be Treated". Since 2018, the World Health Organization has regarded aging as a disease. Well, if it's a disease, there should be a way to treat it.

Here are some mind - boggling cases: First, Bryan Johnson, a Silicon Valley millionaire, conducted a "three - generation father - son blood - exchange experiment". What will the effect be? We'll have to wait and see. There is also a 90 - year - old physicist who recently tried to replace all the mitochondria in his cells, which is like replacing the "engine" of the cells. What effect might this have? We're also looking forward to it. The third case is organ transplantation. If people live longer and want to replace some "hardware", what should they do? Can they replace a pig's kidney, liver, heart, or cornea? Currently, there are already relevant medical teams in China trying to carry out pig lung and liver transplantation. Maybe in another 20 years, when people meet, the greeting will be "I had a surgery and replaced a pig's kidney. I feel great." This may become a scene where dreams come true.

Currently, many important industries are highly integrated with the "silver - haired economy". By this year, the number of newborns is about 7 million, and the number of people over 60 years old (the "silver - haired population") is about 20 million. What can we do for this?

First, how about popular science education for the elderly? I encourage everyone to learn a musical instrument because playing a musical instrument can activate your distant brain regions and help you prevent diseases like Alzheimer's. Second, do chronic disease prevention. We've talked a lot about this just now. Third, the profession of cognitive impairment management specialist is a new one. Currently, many Alzheimer's patients lack such caregivers. Is there any embodied intelligence product designed for the group with cognitive impairment? Fourth, aging - friendly transformation, such as corner protection for bathrooms and furniture, and various innovative medical devices. Fifth, elderly - care robots, which should include both physical training and emotional companionship. These are all very important.

I hope the younger generation, especially those born in the 1990s and 2000s, will think more about the needs of people in their 50s and 60s. What kind of application scenarios might these needs generate? This will be a blue - ocean market.

Wang Jian, the chairman of BGI, is what we call the "guinea pig". He tries all the technologies developed by the company first, such as gene testing, cell storage, microbiota regulation, and sleep control. At the age of 56, he climbed Mount Everest. At 58, he went to Antarctica. At 61, he went to the Arctic. At 67, he went to the Mariana Trench. Last year, at the age of 70, he climbed Mount Everest again from the north slope in May. Although his ID shows he's 71 years old, his immunological age is only 43. For those of you here who are in your 40s, have you climbed Xiangshan recently?

What is the most amazing large - scale model? It's life itself. The hepatitis B virus has 3,200 base pairs. If we think of it as the amount of program code, it's self - consistent. E. coli has 4 million base pairs, self - consistent. Yeast has 10 million base pairs, self - consistent. Humans have 3 billion base pairs, self - consistent. Wheat has 16 billion base pairs, also self - consistent. From a few thousand to tens of billions, they're all self - consistent. The life large - scale model doesn't need virtual and synthetic data at all.

So, where exactly are the great opportunities for "Healthy China"? In my opinion, those who dare to be the first, just like 36Kr holds the WISE Conference every year to select those who dare to be the first. I believe that China will become the center of biotechnology, especially treatment technology, in the world. Why? Since this year, there have been more and more pilot areas for the advancement of medical technology across the country, from Lecheng in Hainan to Nansha in Guangdong, Shenzhen, and the whole province of Hunan. Before this year's National Day, the State Council also signed the "Regulation No. 818 on the Management of Clinical Research and Clinical Transformation and Application of New Biomedical Technologies".

Why do I say that China will become the center of treatment technology? The accessibility of these treatment products is very important. When considering any advanced treatment technology today, the most terrible failure is not that we can't develop it, but that when it's developed, you can't afford it or use it. If precision medicine becomes elite medicine and the gap between the rich and the poor is widened by advanced technology, that's the biggest failure. We should make technology inclusive, and we all should not forget this.

Fairness and accessibility ensure China's global competitive advantage. Hainan Island will be officially closed for customs on December 18th this year. Now, 85 countries can enter Hainan visa - free. What for? I believe that all the cross - border medical tourism we've heard about before will have a great chance in Hainan at this moment.

When we're ready with the underlying tools for life, such as sequencers, mass spectrometers, and cell analyzers, you'll see that the marginal cost of life digitization will gradually approach zero. I believe that when a country takes the collective health of its people as the core of its governance policy, healthy and long life will become the new normal starting from our generation.

There is a word in English, "Longevity". I want to re - translate it. Instead of simply translating it as "longevity", I translate it as "healthy longevity". It not only represents the extension of life length but also the synchronous progress of the breadth, temperature, and richness of life quality. I believe that if other countries can achieve it, China can definitely do it too. If the people at BGI can do it, everyone here can also do it.

As the longest - living generation of Homo sapiens in history, let's jointly embrace a new life full of health, wisdom, beauty, and abundance. As Wang Jian said, let's meet at the age of 120! There is no upper limit, and I hope we can meet every year!

Thank you!