Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

Reboot ethics governance in China

The shocking announcement of genetically modified babies creates an opportunity to overhaul the nation’s science, argue Ruipeng Lei and colleagues.
  1. Ruipeng Lei

    1. Ruipeng Lei is professor of bioethics at the School of the Humanities and Centre for Bioethics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, and vice-president and secretary-general of the Chinese Society for Bioethics.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Xiaomei Zhai

    1. Xiaomei Zhai is professor of bioethics and health policy at the Centre for Bioethics, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, and president of the Chinese Society for Bioethics.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  3. Wei Zhu

    1. Wei Zhu is associate professor at the Centre for Applied Ethics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, and a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Society for Bioethics.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  4. Renzong Qiu

    1. Renzong Qiu is professor of philosophy of science and bioethics at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

As we walked off the aeroplane in Hong Kong in November last year, on the eve of the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, we had no idea that we were stepping into the epicentre of an unfolding human drama. Just hours earlier, He Jiankui had made his YouTube announcement claiming to have helped make genome-edited babies. As soon as we switched on our mobile phones, they started to vibrate furiously.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 569, 184-186 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01408-y

References

  1. National Health Commission. The Technical Norms for Human Assisted Reproduction Technologies [in Chinese] (2003); available at https://go.nature.com/2jeevdj

  2. Yan, A. ‘Has China Found a Cure for Cancer in Malaria?’ South China Morning Post (14 February 2019).

  3. Gao, F., Shen, X. Z., Jiang, F., Wu, Y. & Han, C. Nature Biotechnol. 34, 768–773 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Cyranoski, D. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06163-0 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gan, X. & Cheng, W. ‘The Results of the Han Chunyu Incident Are Difficult to Convince the People’ [in Chinese]. Science Daily (3 September 2018); available at https://go.nature.com/2uvizxp

  6. Qiu, R. Z. [in Chinese] Sci. Soc. 1, 8–26 (2013); available at https://go.nature.com/2umndgt

  7. Cyranoski, D. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2015.18252 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Qiu, J. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2012.11998 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lei, R. P. & Qiu, R. Z. [in Chinese] Chinese Med. Ethics 31, 545–552 (2018); available at https://go.nature.com/2dzs5tx

  10. National Health and Family Planning Commission & Food and Drug Administration. Tentative Regulations on Stem Cell Clinical Research [in Chinese] (2015); available at https://go.nature.com/2pbtndf

  11. National Health Commission. Announcement on Public Consultation on the Regulations on the Clinical Application of New Biomedical Technologies (Draft For Comment) [in Chinese] (26 February 2019); available at https://go.nature.com/2j2sctr

  12. Lei, R. P., Feng, J. Y. & Qiu, R. Z. [in Chinese] Med. Phil. 40, 5–10 (2019); available at https://go.nature.com/2xsj9tf

  13. Wang, C. X. & Zhang, J. F. Medical Ethics [in Chinese] (People’s Publishing House, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Wu, S. Medical Ethics [in Chinese] (Guangdong Higher Education Publishing House, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Zhai, X. M., Lei. R. P., Zhu, W. & Qiu, R. Z. ‘Chinese Bioethicists Respond to the Case of He Jiankui’ (The Hastings Center, 2019); available at https://go.nature.com/2vi6y3c

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Postdoctoral Position

    We are seeking highly motivated and skilled candidates for postdoctoral fellow positions

    Boston, Massachusetts (US)

    Boston Children's Hospital (BCH)

  • Qiushi Chair Professor

    Distinguished scholars with notable achievements and extensive international influence.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • ZJU 100 Young Professor

    Promising young scholars who can independently establish and develop a research direction.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • Head of the Thrust of Robotics and Autonomous Systems

    Reporting to the Dean of Systems Hub, the Head of ROAS is an executive assuming overall responsibility for the academic, student, human resources...

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

  • Head of Biology, Bio-island

    Head of Biology to lead the discovery biology group.

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    BeiGene Ltd.

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links