BGI Group Unveils Digital Life Twin Framework and Multimodal Brain-on-Chip at 2026 Global Launch
核心洞察
BGI Group (搜索) marked its 27th anniversary with a Shenzhen launch event presenting technologies spanning brain science, multi-omics diagnostics, active health management, nutrition, skincare, pet health and soil ecology.
BGI Genomics (搜索) introduced a Digital Life Twin framework that cross-references routine annual checkup metrics with population-level data from large healthy cohorts to build individual baseline profiles.
The company unveiled a multimodal brain-on-chip system integrating on-chip neuronal and brain organoid culture with electrophysiological and optical interaction for neurological disease modeling and neuropharmacological screening.
BGI Group (搜索) used its 2026 Global New Product Launch Event, held September 9 at BGI Center in Shenzhen to mark the organization's 27th anniversary, to present a portfolio of technologies spanning brain science, research computing, medical testing, active health management, companion animal health and agricultural ecology. The event, themed "Intelligent Life · Infinite Health," reflected what the company described as a broader direction in life sciences: using genomics, multi-omics, artificial intelligence, automation and wearable technologies to make biological signals more visible, measurable and actionable.
Wang Jian, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of BGI Group (搜索), said the organization will remain guided by health and supported by more advanced and more accessible life science tools and genomic foundation models, and will continue to promote the deep integration of life sciences and clinical medicine. CEO Yin Ye, in a keynote titled "The Era of Great Health and Longevity," argued that after the rapid rise of AI, longevity engineering may become the greatest opportunity for humanity. He framed "great health and longevity" as living better, healthier and with greater dignity rather than simply living longer, and called for a shift from treating existing diseases to preventing them before they occur, and from passive medical care to proactive health management. "A health checkup is the starting point for improving health, not the end point," Yin said, adding that only continuous accumulation and tracking of health data allows people to understand changes in their bodies earlier.
Digital Life Twin and the Life Index System
BGI Genomics (搜索) introduced its Digital Life Twin framework alongside an advanced multi-omics diagnostic portfolio, describing the launch as a transition from traditional, reactive diagnostics to continuous, predictive health management across the human lifecycle. The framework bridges high-throughput multi-omics, massive cohort data and self-evolving artificial intelligence, cross-referencing routine annual health checkup metrics with population-level distribution patterns from large healthy cohorts. The model condenses complex multi-system indicators into quantifiable health indices to generate an individual's baseline profile.
Jiang Xiaosen, General Manager of the Biological Intelligence Solutions Center at BGI Genomics (搜索), said that mapping the full biological lifecycle establishes an actionable baseline, enabling clinicians and individuals to catch subclinical shifts well ahead of conventional clinical diagnosis. He described the approach as a pivot from downstream reaction to early risk prediction, dynamic biological simulation and personalized care.
At the core of the launch is the Life Index system and the upgraded i99 Smart Health platform (搜索). Powered by global cohorts and cloud AI, the platform deploys the 133111i (搜索) testing framework, converting multi-dimensional data from epigenetics, methylation and pharmacogenomics to lipidomics, metabolic profiles, cell atlases and medical imaging into actionable Life Index wellness scores that map individual trajectories against universal population baselines.
On the hardware side, the Huo-Yan intellectual integration powered i3 Smart Cabin (搜索)™ is a compact health terminal occupying two square meters. Equipped with multimodal intelligent sensors, it conducts non-invasive assessments across facial aging, vision, hearing, cognition and physical constitution, generating a clinical-grade digital report in ten minutes. BGI positioned the terminal for urban business districts, hospitals and community clinics.
Jiang cited an obesity (搜索) management case in which the platform moved beyond oversimplified "diet and exercise" guidance. By pinpointing the patient's genetic appetite drivers, blunted satiety response, gut dysbiosis and pharmacogenomic drug responses, the system was used to validate AI-driven, highly personalized precision interventions over generic lifestyle recommendations.
Multimodal Brain-on-Chip for Neurological Research
Brain science was among the frontier areas highlighted. BGI unveiled a multimodal brain-on-chip interaction system, described as the company's first product in the field of the origin of consciousness and the world's first multimodal product in this field, filling an important gap in the industry. For the first time, the system integrates on-chip in situ cultivation of neuronal cells, neural tissues and brain organoids together with electrophysiological functional interaction and optical functional interaction on a single platform. By enabling the full process of "cultivation–recording–modulation" on one chip, it allows researchers to conduct long-term, continuous, precise and multimodal observation and regulation of the same sample. The platform is intended for research in brain organoid development, neurological disease modeling, neuropharmacological screening and frontier biological intelligence.
Measuring Health Beyond Chronological Age
Built on BGI's 133111i (搜索) active health technology platform, digital health tools presented at the event are designed to move health assessment from one-time testing toward continuous management. BGI introduced technologies combining long-read and short-read genome sequencing to build long-term biological profiles for families, covering inherited disease risks, cancer-related risks, complex disease susceptibility, pharmacogenomics, ancestry and physical traits.
Beyond inherited information, the company presented a health index framework integrating multi-source physical examination data to quantify overall health status. Blood-based epigenetic analysis can examine approximately 28 million DNA methylation sites to assess the biological age of eight major organs and multiple health dimensions, while immune profiling based on the Chinese Immune Multi-Omics Atlas (搜索) (CIMA) evaluates an individual's immune age. BGI said these approaches allow changes previously described only as "not feeling well lately" to become indicators tracked over time, helping show whether lifestyle adjustments are associated with changes in aging-related metrics.
BGI also presented an AI-powered multimodal eye imaging system integrating external eye imaging, fundus photography, OCT/OCTA, biometry and eye-movement tracking, designed to complete a one-stop auxiliary assessment of eye and multi-system health risks within five to seven minutes. A wearable smart ring was introduced to continuously record cardiovascular, sleep, activity and recovery-related signals, supporting 24-hour passive monitoring and the development of personal digital health records.
Family Genomics and Molecular Aging Testing
Huang Hui, Head of Genetic Testing Products, introduced the Global Family Heritage Initiative, a flagship whole-genome solution bridging family members through multigenerational genomic data. The program is designed to help households uncover hidden hereditary risks early, tailor preventive interventions across life stages and transform fragmented medical histories into a biological safeguard for the lineage. It combines 10X long-read and 40X short-read sequencing to maximize data completeness, read length and accuracy, and is backed by personalized genetic counseling, delivering a health archive spanning oncology risks, chronic conditions and telomere aging metrics.
The WGLIFE (搜索) series features a five-tier lineup — Fun, Discovery, Pioneer, Smart and Flagship — each stepping up in sequencing depth, clinical reporting and end-to-end support, evolving from genetic traits and lifestyle insights into actionable health risks, personalized medication guidance and comprehensive preventive care. BGI Genomics (搜索) also expanded its BIOAGE (搜索) molecular aging series into Standard, Smart and Flagship tiers, scaling from foundational biological age and aging rate assessments to deeper chronic disease risk profiling. The upgraded BIOAGE Flagship Edition uses cell-free DNA methylation profiling to analyze signals from six vital organs and eight immune cell subsets, combining biological age, organ health, immune status, chronic disease risks and environmental exposures into a single molecular profile, enabling regular re-testing and long-term trend tracking.
Personalized Nutrition, Skin Health and Research Tools
In nutrition, BGI presented an approach using whole-genome testing and metabolomic testing as the entry point. Based on a self-developed dual-baseline model, individual data are compared with a longevity baseline from 129 Chinese centenarians and a natural population baseline from more than 10,000 healthy individuals, with algorithms generating personalized nutrition formulations. Flexible manufacturing allows tablets to be produced according to individual needs with a minimum additive precision of 5 milligrams, and formulations can be divided into morning and evening doses based on biological rhythms.
For skin health, BGI presented a system combining genetic, metabolic and optical testing. By analyzing 56 key genetic sites and 243 skin classification indicators, the system is designed to characterize inherited tendencies and acquired changes behind concerns such as pigmentation, wrinkles, dryness, sensitivity and dullness. Algorithms match individuals with suitable formulations from 160,000 possible combinations, with plans adjusted dynamically through quarterly reassessment.
For life science research, BGI presented an intelligent multi-omics platform uniting cloud computing, massive biological datasets and domain-specific AI. Through natural-language interaction, the system automates literature review, dataset search and retrieval, pipeline execution and interactive reporting without coding, dependency troubleshooting or manual environment setup. It embeds thousands of validated, peer-reviewed bioinformatic skills and standardized workflows to support fully traceable and reproducible results.
Extending Precision Life Science to Pets and Soil
BGI presented a pet precision health management solution bringing genetic analysis and pathogen screening into everyday pet care. It includes a pet DNA test with more than 20 analysis modules covering breed and lineage analysis, nutritional-requirement analysis, comprehensive genetic disease screening and breeding guidance, plus a pet pathogen test providing high-throughput screening capable of detecting more than 30,000 pathogens within 24 hours.
In agriculture, the company introduced an intelligent eco-soil system drawing on more than 100,000 soil microbial samples, over 30,000 functional microbial strains and more than 350 TB of microbial genomic data. The system evaluates soil health across six dimensions, including nutrient composition and physicochemical properties, pesticide residues, microbial diversity, beneficial bacteria abundance and pathogen load, then matches crop lifecycle nutrition solutions for different plots.
Partnerships and Strategic Direction
The event featured the signing of multiple cooperation agreements. BGI signed Life Index partnership agreements with institutions including Anhui Provincial Hospital (搜索) and Guangzhou Baiyun District People's Hospital (搜索), and city partnership agreements for BGI Future Intelligent Health Center with organizations including Hubei Big Data Group (搜索). BGI also entered SEQ ALL strategic partnerships with 10 institutions to advance full-length sequencing technology, and signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Trustworthy and General Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of Westlake University (搜索) and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, focused respectively on embodied intelligence and retinal organoids.
As BGI Group (搜索) enters its 28th year, the organization said it will continue to advance genetic technologies and broader life science tools, promoting their application in health, clinical, research and ecological settings.