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Chinese authorities say world's first gene-edited babies were illegal
Authorities in China say experiments which led to the birth of the world's first gene-edited babies broke the country's laws, state-run Xinhua news reported Monday. In November, Chinese scientist He Jiankui sparked international outrage when he announced that twin girls -- Lulu and Nana -- had been born with modified DNA to make them resistant to HIV. He later revealed a second woman was pregnant as a result of the research.
[...] On Monday, investigators from Guangdong Province Health Commission said that "the case has been initially identified as an explicitly state-banned human embryo-editing activity for reproductive purposes conducted by He Jiankui," Xinhua reported. The commission added that the scientist has conducted the work "In pursuit of personal fame and fortune, with self-raised funds and deliberate evasion of supervision and private recruitment of related personnel." The authorities also believe He forged both ethical review documents and blood tests to circumvent a ban on assisted reproduction for HIV-positive patients, state media reported.
[...] Authorities in China said He and any other people or institutions involved will be "dealt with seriously according to the law, and if suspected of crimes, they will be handed over to the public security bureau," according to Xinhua. "For the born babies and pregnant volunteers, Guangdong Province will work with relevant parties to perform medical observation and follow-up visits under the guidance of relevant state departments," Xinhua said, adding that born babies and pregnant volunteers will be monitored and followed-up with under the guidance of relevant state departments.
Where's the paper?
Also at TechCrunch and Newsweek.
Previously: Chinese Scientist Claims to Have Created the First Genome-Edited Babies (Twins)
Furor Over Genome-Edited Babies Claim Continues (Updated)
Chinese Gene-Editing Scientist's Project Rejected for WHO Database (Plus: He Jiankui is Missing)
Chinese Scientist Who Allegedly Created the First Genome-Edited Babies is Reportedly Being Detained
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @11:27PM
Thanks for revising your position. It is sad how rare that seems to be these days.
HIV was not a legitimate medical risk to the babies as the mother was HIV negative and, even if she were HIV positive, there are treatment protocols that substantially reduce vertical transmission. Furthermore, there was no need to edit the germline since the same method (mutating CCR5) can be and has been safely done in adult bone marrow.
If the disease were something untreatable and/or transmission could not be avoided (e.g. Huntington's disease or ALS), then there would at least be a risk/benefit point to be made for the babies but He Jiankui seems to have had other priorities than their well being.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15166829 [nih.gov]