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Fertility clinics around the world have asked a scientist from "CRISPR Babies" to help him – STAT
What happened: Multiple fertility clinics from around the world have approached the infamous CRISPR babies scientist, He Jiankui, for badistance in developing embryonic gene editing services for patients, according to information provided to STAT by He's advisor, William Hurlbut. An email addressed to He, of the Dubai Health Authority, congratulates him on his project and asks him if he could teach his clinicians: "CRISPR gene editing for the application of embryology Lab. Communications aimed at raising public awareness of the risks of commercialization of gene editing of embryos.
Why is it important? While China recently written regulations to punish rogue scientists like Him, these requests from fertility clinics abroad show how difficult it is to contain a questionable science from an ethical point of view without a united international effort to master it. Even as the scientific community condemns its work, companies have every incentive to take advantage of the technologies they can market to customers, whether they are revolutionary, problematic or potentially dangerous. CRISPR is often described as a biological "Pandora's Box", and the nickname becomes more and more precise – even disconcerting -.
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