Researchers from different countries have expressed concern that the new rules for regulating genetic engineering in China may prove ineffective. This is reported by the BBC.
Dr. Joy Zhang of the University of Kent, an international expert on gene editing management in China, complains that the Chinese authorities are “regulatoryly negligent”, so there are many loopholes in the new genetic engineering rules in force in the Middle Kingdom for private experiments.
Theoretically, the new rules apply to all research institutions. They regulate everything related to human gene modeling — working with its tissues, organs, embryonic cells. The rules were updated after the scandal surrounding Chinese doctor He Jiankui from Shenzhen city. Five years ago, he stated that he had created the world’s first babies with edited genes. According to him, twins Lulu and Nana during embryonic development underwent an intervention in DNA, which made them resistant to HIV infection. The experimenter was fined and sent to jail in 2019. In January of this year, he was released and has already announced that he plans to open his own clinic.
In turn, China rejects all allegations and declares that the rules meet international standards.
To recap, the Chinese tech giant Baidu announced that it has completed testing its own chatbot with artificial intelligence.
