Chinese authorities to probe gene-editing claim by scientist
Print Edition
THE National Health Commission has ordered local officials in Guangdong Province to investigate Chinese researcher He Jiankui’s claims of genetically edited babies.
He’s employer, Southern University of Science and Technology of China, said it is also investigating claims that he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies.
The Guangdong provincial health commission announced on its website yesterday that it and Shenzhen city had set up a joint team to investigate the case.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said it will cooperate with other departments to investigate the claim of the world’s first gene-edited babies.
The ministry is highly concerned and called an emergency meeting on Monday night, Xu Nanping, vice minister of science and technology, said on Tuesday at a media event.
Xu said the ministry was following the case closely and would seriously deal with it after clarification.
The vice minister noted that China limits in vitro human embryonic stem cell research to a maximum of 14 days, according to ethical guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the former Ministry of Health in 2003.
A life science union under the China Association for Science and Technology said on Tuesday that it “resolutely opposes so-called scientific researches and biotech applications that violate the spirit of science and ethics.”
The Chinese Union of Life Science Societies, with 22 national-level societies as its members, said in a statement that the case of the claimed genetically edited babies breached ethics and morality as well as related regulations.
The case has severely disturbed the order of scientific research and seriously damaged China’s international reputation in the life science field, said the statement.
In Hong Kong yesterday, He said that a second pregnancy may be under way.
Addressing a packed hall of around 700 people attending the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing at the University of Hong Kong, He made his first public comments about his controversial work.
“For this case, I feel proud. I feel proudest,” He said.
Asked whether there were any other edited gene pregnancies as part of his trials, He said there was another “potential” pregnancy and replied “yes” to a follow-up question as to whether it was a “chemical pregnancy,” which refers to an early-stage miscarriage.
It was unclear whether the pregnancy had ended or not.
“This study has been submitted to a scientific journal for review,” He said. He did not name the journal and said his university was unaware of his study.
In videos posted online this week, He said he used a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born this month. He said gene editing would help protect the girls from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
But scientists have denounced the work that He said he carried out, and Shenzhen Harmonicare Medical Holdings Ltd, a hospital linked to his research, suggested its ethical approval had been forged.
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