The US Scientists Who Knew About CRISPRed Babies

Multiple researchers were aware of He Jiankui’s clinical trial before the news became public in November.

| 3 min read
a rooftop and tower at Stanford University

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

ABOVE: FLICKR, DON MCCULLOUGH

Update (March 18, 2022): STAT reports that “During the clinical trial in 2017 and 2018, [Michael] Deem regularly received data about the research subjects, including sequence data of DNA pulled from the cells of the gene-edited children, according to a source with knowledge of the project,” an assertion Deem denies through his lawyers. The outlet also reports that Rice University conducted an ethics investigation of Deem, who left the institution in the summer of 2020.

Update (February 11, 2019): MIT Technology Review reports that Stanford University is conducting an investigation "to understand what liabilities or risks" it may have in connection with the CRISPR human editing trial.

Update (January 31, 2019): STAT reports that He's former PhD advisor, Michael Deem of Rice University, was listed as the final author on a paper submitted to Nature about the CRISPR gene-editing trial.

When MIT Technology Review and the ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Shawna Williams

    Shawna was an editor at The Scientist from 2017 through 2022. She holds a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Colorado College and a graduate certificate and science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio 
Zymo Research

Zymo Research Launches Microbiome Grant to Support Innovation in Microbial Sciences