Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Chinese Scientist Under Investigation For Gene-Editing Human Embryos Is Missing, Reports Claim
The Hill: Chinese Scientist Who Claimed Gene-Editing Success Now Missing: Report
The Chinese scientist who claimed to have created the world's first gene-edited babies, He Jiankui, is missing after his former employers denied that he was detained over the weekend, the South China Morning Post reports. A spokeswoman for his former workplace, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, denied reports that He was being detained. “Right now nobody’s information is accurate, only the official channels are," the spokeswoman told the newspaper, while also declining to elaborate. (Keller, 12/3)
Daily Mail Online: Chinese Gene-Editing Scientist Is Missing Amid Rumours Of Arrest
Reports claimed He was placed under effective house arrest in Shenzhen after making an appearance at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong last Wednesday. However, claims of He's detention were dismissed by his former-employer, Southern University of Science and Technology, according to South China Morning Post. The university declined to elaborate further. (Cheng, 12/3)
The Associated Press: World Health Organization Wants Panel To Study Gene Editing
The chief of the World Health Organization says his agency is assembling experts to consider the health impacts of gene editing. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that gene editing "cannot be just done without clear guidelines" and experts should "start from a clean sheet and check everything." Tedros' comments followed Chinese scientist He Jiankui's announcement last week that he had helped alter the DNA of newborn twins in hopes of making them resistant to the AIDS virus. (12/3)
Stat: Chinese Lab Sought Help Editing PCSK9 Gene In Human Embryos
Scientists were stunned because editing the human germline — the genomes of embryos, eggs, and sperm — has been considered taboo or at least not ready for reproductive use, because such changes would be inherited by descendants. And CRISPR’s safety, including the potential for unintended health effects, remains very much unknown. The birth announcement made [Dr. Kiran] Musunuru dig out his old emails — which he shared with STAT — and do some sleuthing. The University of Pennsylvania researcher quickly found that the student, Feifei Cheng, worked with He and presented a paper written with him at a meeting on genome editing this past April in China sponsored by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. That paper reported editing PCSK9 in human, monkey, and mouse embryos. (Begley, 12/4)
