Biotech Values

[Titan V]

China, Unhampered by Rules, Races Ahead in Gene-Editing Trials
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-unhampered-by-rules-races-ahead-in-gene-editing-trials-1516562360

—U.S. scientists helped devise the Crispr biotechnology tool. First to test it in humans are Chinese doctors

There is little doubt China was first out of the block testing Crispr on humans. Nine trials in China are listed in a U.S. National Library of Medicine database. The Wall Street Journal found at least two other hospital trials, including one beginning in 2015—a year earlier than previously reported. Journal reporting found at least 86 Chinese patients have had their genes edited.

The trials align with China’s industrial policy. As part of its drive to place China on the global stage in a multitude of industries, Beijing in a 2016 five-year plan highlighted gene editing. Many of the Crispr trials emerged after that call-to-arms.

Carl June, lead scientist for the Crispr research team at Penn, says China could beat the U.S. to apply medical technologies such as Crispr pioneered in the West. “We are at a dangerous point in losing our lead in biomedicine,” he says. There is a “regulatory asymmetry” between America and China, Dr. June says, but Crispr science is so new “it is hard to know what the ideal is between moving quickly and making sure patients are safe.”