So does Koepp, who sees many forces for change, including what he calls the "reverse brain drain." It used to be that three-fourths of Chinese students who came to the U.S. for their PhDs and other degrees ended up staying here to work. Now, Koepp notes, the figures "are reversed, and 75% go back to China because they see opportunity -- and even fewer restrictions."
"I know a biotech researcher who has returned to Shanghai because she can work with stem cells there while she would be restricted here," he says. Likewise, Europe's bans on working with genetic crop materials are driving Chinese students home from that continent.
