Inside STAT: 'CRISPR babies' study may have used Chinese government funding

SCIENTIST HE JIANKUI APPEARS ON A CHINESE TELEVISION PROGRAM FIRST BROADCAST IN SEPTEMBER 2017. (SCREEN CAPTURE)

Funding from three government institutions might have been used for the “CRISPR babies” study, according to documents reviewed by STAT. The documents — which include slides prepared by He’s team — list three funding sources for the study: the Ministry of Science and Technology; Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, part of the municipal government; and Southern University of Science and Technology, where He worked. If the institutions did grant He funding, it’s not clear whether they knew how that money would be used. But if the documents are correct, they would raise questions about the preliminary conclusion of a government investigation that found He acted mainly on his own. STAT contributor Jane Qiu has the story from Beijing — read here.