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China bans clinical research in germline genome editing as ‘irresponsible’


New guideline marks China’s latest effort to tighten ethics oversight after He Jiankui shocked the world with first gene-edited babies.

The guideline marks the latest effort from China to tighten ethics reviews and regulations after bioscientist He Jiankui shocked the world in 2018 with the announcement that he had created twin gene-edited babies to make them less vulnerable to HIV/Aids. “Only when benefits, risks and alternative options are fully understood and weighed, when issues of safety and efficacy are addressed, broad social consensus is reached and rigorous evaluation is conducted, could clinical research be considered with strict supervision in place,” the guideline adds. Britain, Canada, Australia, several Western European countries and South Korea have laws banning research into human genome editing technology for reproductive purposes.

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