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China Halts Work by Team on Gene-Edited Babies (apnews.com)
China's government ordered a halt Thursday to work by a medical team that claimed to have helped make the world's first gene-edited babies, as a group of leading scientists declared that it's still too soon to try to make permanent changes to DNA that can be inherited by future generations. AP reports: Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping told state broadcaster CCTV that his ministry is strongly opposed to the efforts that reportedly produced twin girls born earlier this month. Xu called the team's actions illegal and unacceptable and said an investigation had been ordered, but made no mention of specific actions taken. Researcher He Jiankui claims to have altered the DNA of the twins to try to make them resistant to infection with the AIDS virus. Mainstream scientists have condemned the experiment, and universities and government groups are investigating. His experiment "crossed the line of morality and ethics adhered to by the academic community and was shocking and unacceptable," Xu said. A group of leading scientists gathered in Hong Kong this week for an international conference on gene editing, the ability to rewrite the code of life to try to correct or prevent diseases.
The cat almost got out of the bag here that CHINA LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING.
They didn't vet their research and conduct with the Party before publicly announcing it?
I mean I have no doubt China is doing this as a skunkworks project anyway, but the party's outward appearance is important to it, and seeming amoral/unethic is frowned upon. Having said all this, I can't help but believe the Chinese government is working on its own eugenics program, even if they refuse to publicly disclose it. The Mandarins and others want both their own superior genes as well as their docile and obedient Han laborers in the best condition to maximize their benefit for a minimum of capital or chance of political unrest.
Take your time.
I thought the lure of research in China was lack of oversight. If you can't conduct an ethically questionable scientific study there, what's the point?
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
That's good to hear. I'm as concerned as anyone about the eugenics/GATTACA angle of this, but on a more immediate note, I think the potential off target effects are of ethical concern as well. If you're making a gene edited plant and you accidentally change something else that has a deleterious effect, who cares? Toss that plant and try again. In an animal model, if that happens and is causing undue problems, euthanizing the animal is an option.
But in humans? You get one shot, and it better work exactly right the first time. I'm all for gene editing, but even without the wide arching societal concerns, I don't think the technology is even close to using on humans at this time. Gene editing gets hyped up a lot, but there are still problems to be worked out when it comes to the actual practical application of the technology.
even though it's probably fake news you still have to treat such tabloid stories the same way men in black would. You know it's probably related to modern take on tales about pioneers, settlers, exploration of remote lands, etc.. You know where natives and locals succumb to diseases introduced by old world landed gentry following orders of the new world. In this case concept of editing the DNA and existence of AIDS virus serve as fictional levers. You know they are not lying. The girls will be able to resist this virus since it doesn't exists. they will no longer be targeted by narratives of it.
Social engineering is a hobby of the Left but they may not appreciate this level of engineering when considering all the possibilities it brings. For example, a homophobic state like Iran could research the "gay gene" and the phenomenon of homosexuality would be removed from the Earth in 100-200 years max.
You're only useful to the Glory of the Leader until you aren't.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Looks like China is going to have one less scientist in the near future.
What a wonderful world where to build weapons with no other usage than killing is ok but editing embryo genome at very early stage when no nervous cells is developed is forbidden. Contrary to what it said, yes, we can be sure that only the right thing is edited: just sequence the genome!
Cystic fibrosis, Achondroplasia, Sickle-cell anemia, Huntington's disease, Wolfram syndrome and many other can be prevented for the future generation with this technique.
F*ck you people!
Chinese gov, like most gov, has little to no ethics. They made this announcement but have no doubt allowed this to continue.
This is no different than China's gov claiming that they were stopping large numbers of new coal plants and once their bad economy turned, they restarted the projects.
THis group will go underground. literally and figuratively, to continue this work. They are learning how to make a body resist HiV. Later on, it will be other virus, such as a synthetic smallpox. Welcome to the solution for getting the world to drop CO2.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Is that a bun in the oven, or a salad in the crispr?
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Who cares? Raelians are already far ahead in engineering a master race.
As if some other country won't take this on. Some day there'll be genetically engineered supersoldiers and we'll be in the corner crying about ethics.
Actually, this is indisputable evidence that Smurfs created AIDS and Smurfette was patient zero. Then, our government retaliated and killed all the smurfs. You want PROOF??? Just look out your window. See any smurfs??? Didn't think so. There's your proof.
Follow the money! Wake up people! Flush the toilet America! Who ate all my Cheetos???
DNA is not the code of life. It has been talked about as it is, but it is not. DNA is one important pillar of a multi-faceted system, which includes nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), proteins, cellular functions (which contain both nucleic acids and proteins, but their configuration and interaction matter enough to call them out as a separate system), other forms of biological communication such as exosomes, neurotransmitters, etc., the microbiome...
You could tell this was fake because claiming to make babies more powerful or stronger or resistant to disease is just impossible. Biology is an ever adapting system and you can't just add features like inserting a software module. People like to think that's how DNA works and it makes for great science fiction, but the reality of science shows that biology is a system in balance; you can't change a few base pairs like a few lines of code and alter how a creature functions.
Go troll your idiocy elsewhere.
Their own university has distanced themselves. Now their government just wants to shutdown the story.
they may say one thing, and do another.
as if china isn't massivly interested in developing this (well, probably not only china).
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.