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Cloning has raised an ethical debate about the proximity of scientists to human cloning (File)
The statement of a Chinese scientist that he would have created the first babies The critics say that regulatory controls and lax ethical standards are at the root of a series of biomedical breakthroughs making headlines in China.
University professor He Jiankui said on Sunday that binoculars DNA had been altered to prevent them from contracting HIV, but his claims elicited a fierce reaction from the scientific community that no only sowed doubt about this breakthrough, but also questioned his morality.
China is seeking to become a leader in the fields of genetic research and cloning.
The country's scientists were the first to proceed with gene editing on human embryos in 2015, albeit with mixed results, reported the British newspaper Nature in 2017. Earlier this year year, Chinese scientists unveiled cloned monkeys using the same technique as Dolly the Sheep two decades ago.
This procedure could stimulate medical research on human diseases, but it also raised ethical questions about the proximity of scientists.
The "Head Graft"
Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero sparked controversy last year by claiming to have led the world's first head transplant on a corpse in a Chinese hospital. The British newspaper Global Times reported at the time, although other scientists have described his remarks as crazy.
On Sunday, He, who had been educated at Stanford University, announced in a YouTube video that he had used CRISPR, a technique allowing scientists to remove and replace a strand with a Precision accuracy, to change the DNA of the twins.
The tool has not been used in human trials in the United States, although doctors in China have
Qiu Renzong, former vice chairman of the committee Ethics of the Chinese Ministry of Health, accused him of having obtained a "fraudulent" evaluation by going to another hospital to be submitted to it, instead of obtaining the same. approval from his own university.
Qiu said that a lack of regulation meant that scientists were often not sanctioned because they were only required to abide by the rules of their institutions, which could not impose punishment for misconduct. 19659004] "People say that the ministry is without teeth and that it can not bite people, so we try to give courage to the head of the ministry so that he can bite people when they break the rules. regulations, "he told reporters at a conference on gene editing in Hong Kong.
"The mainland protects the scientists a lot, if you make a small mistake, it's the end, there is no punishment.I suggest they be punished", a- he added.
"Crazy" Experience
The skeptical scientific community waiting for evidence of its claims, the scientist should speak at the same conference. Wednesday and Thursday in Hong Kong
He, who works in a laboratory in Shenzhen city, in southern China, is also the subject of in-depth review on the mainland, the National Commission of health ordering the opening of an investigation into the case.
Tuesday Shenzhen Harmonicare Hospital for Children and Women said in a statement that he suspected the signing of a document endorsing the experience, especially its adherence to ethical standards, had been falsified and that she had asked the police to investigate.
A group of 122 Chinese scientists signed a joint statement calling the experiment "crazy" and stating that it was unfair to other scientists who stick to the "moral result".
The Southern University of Science and Technology, where he works, has been on leave unpaid since February and his research constitutes a "grave breach of ethics and academic standards".
A notice from the Shenzhen Medical Ethics Authority stated that all medical organizations must set up an ethics review board before undertaking biomedical research on humans, and the hospital's ethics committee had not completed the required registration, as requested.
He defended his research in another video, claiming he was trying to help families with genetic diseases.
"We believe that ethics is a part of history, go back to the 1970s with Louise Brown, the same fears and criticisms are repeated now," he said, referring to the first born of an in vitro fertilization.
A billion dollars of industry
China is the second largest market of genomics CCID Consulting, based in Beijing, estimates that the market value will almost triple, pbading from 7.2 billion yuan ($ 1 billion) in 2017 to 18.3 billion yuan ($ 2.6 billion) by 2022.
More flexible regulation allowed China to take in advance. in the biomedical field, said Michael Donovan, founder of Veraptus, a biotechnology company in China.
But other factors, such as a larger population providing a larger pool of potential patients, as well as regulatory support from the government, have also played a determining role.
"In many sectors, regulations dictate that if there is no law, they can proceed with caution," he added.
"And this is the troubled area that gene editing is right now."
While some hospitals may approve some procedures without going through a national accreditation body, it was "very "strange not to have got the go-ahead from a national authority for such a revolutionary experience," Donovan said.
"From an ethical point of view, we do not have the religious basin we have in the United States," he said. "But it's still life, so people always worry that we're moving too fast with that."
(With the exception of the title, this story was not published by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated thread.)
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