Any changes to law on human gene editing should be after public consultation
By Peter McKnight,
Vancouver Sun
| 12. 08. 2022
When a scientist announces the opening of a new laboratory, it doesn’t ordinarily make news around the world. But Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui is no ordinary scientist.
He’s announcement at the end of November came just seven months after he completed a three-year prison sentence for practising medicine illegally. At issue was He’s 2018 YouTube announcement that he had created the world’s first gene-edited babies.
As details became clear, scientists and lawmakers inside and outside China condemned He’s actions, and he was ultimately fired, fined and sentenced to prison. Gene editing also received a lot of negative press, with the usual stories about designer babies flooding the media. He’s new announcement could result in a repeat of the hysteria.
Indeed, stories raising the spectre of eugenics led Canada to prohibit human gene editing long before He created his designer babies. He employed a technique known as CRISPR, short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, which acts like a pair of scissors that allows scientists to edit parts of the human genome.
He used CRISPR to edit the genes of...
Related Articles
By Marianne Lamers, NEMO Kennislink [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.23.2025
Een rijtje gespreide vulva’s gaapt de bezoeker aan. Zó ziet een bevalling eruit, en zó een baarmoeder met foetus. Een zwangerschap, maar dan zonder zwangere vrouw, gestript van zorgen, gêne en pijn. De zwangerschapsmodellen en oefenbekkens, te zien in de...
By Auriane Polge, Science & Vie [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.19.2025
L’idée de pouvoir choisir certaines caractéristiques de son futur enfant a longtemps relevé de la science-fiction ou du débat éthique. Aujourd’hui, les technologies de séquençage et les algorithmes d’analyse génétique repoussent les limites de ce qui semblait encore impossible. Au croisement...
By Charmayne Allison, ABC News | 09.21.2025
It has been seven years since Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui made an announcement that shocked the world's scientists.
He had made the world's first gene-edited babies.
Through rewriting DNA in twin girls' embryos, the man who would later be dubbed...
By Natalie Ram, Anya E. R. Prince, Jessica L. Roberts, Dov Fox, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Science | 09.11.2025
After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe sold the data of more than 15 million people around the world to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit organization created by 23andMe’s founder and long-time CEO. 23andMe’s customers...