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China gene-editing scientist's project rejected for WHO database (original)
A Chinese branch of the World Health Organization has withdrawn an application to register He Jiankui's project in its clinical database. The move comes after China's government halted He's work, saying it would take a "zero tolerance attitude in dealing with dishonorable behavior" in research.
He has faced a global backlash after claiming to have produced the world's first gene-edited babies in a bid to make them HIV-resistant. The project drew international criticism for its lack of transparency, with health officials and other scientists concerned that it raises ethical questions that will taint other work in the field.
The application to enter the database of the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry was rejected because "the original applicants cannot provide the individual participants' data for reviewing," according to the registry's website.
[...] He's whereabouts are still unknown. Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily cited unnamed sources earlier this month that the researcher was put on house arrest by his university, Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, but representatives of the university and He's lab both declined to comment.
takyon: Several news organizations reported on Dec. 3 that He Jiankui was missing.
Previously: Chinese Scientist Claims to Have Created the First Genome-Edited Babies (Twins)
Furor Over Genome-Edited Babies Claim Continues (Updated)
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday December 11 2018, @08:29PM (4 children)
China is not a federalist country. Legally, there's only one government with lots of departments. And it's frequently accused of having an inconsistent and non-specific jurisprudence; that is to say that critics say there's no equivalent to "common law" where laws and enforcement work in the same way every time*. While I'm definitely two million percent not a Chinese lawyer, it would not surprise me to learn that enforcement power is granted to all kinds of government officials you wouldn't expect from the way the US system works: specific departments empowered by acts of congress to enforce specific subsets of the law, combined with local "keeping the peace" police who enforce all laws.
*I know this isn't what the "common" in common law means. Common law is just an example of a system of jurisprudence.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday December 11 2018, @11:26PM (2 children)
Common Law is called that because it only applies to the common people.
I am not a lawyer, but I do play one on the Internet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2018, @12:20AM (1 child)
Did you read the asterisk?
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Wednesday December 12 2018, @02:04AM
Also their "well actually" is technically wrong, the worst kind of wrong.
It only applied to common people. In the US, clergy are tried under common law, not clerical law.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday December 12 2018, @02:55AM
It's more interesting than that. The country is boiling. There are 500 protests going on per day; some are better described as revolts.
There is a profession "revolt organizer"; it works like this. Say one's child is raped by local police and no justice to be found. Parents go to a revolt organizer, pay some deposit, and the guy starts a revolt of *correct* size. When government comes to suppress, he negotiates the settlement, which includes payment to the family shared with the organizer.
One can start reading from here https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/how-china-stays-stable-despite-500-protests-every-day/250940/ [theatlantic.com]
P.S. Law also exists, but it is not sufficient to rule the country. It is a Confucian law, mind you, where judge has way more power over law than in western countries.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.