Inside STAT: China creating national medical ethics body to oversee high-risk clinical trials

GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE IN BEIJING. (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) 

In the wake of the widely condemned “CRISPR babies” experiment, a powerful new national medical ethics committee will approve clinical trials in China that involve high-risk biomedical technologies. The committee will regulate experiments with new technologies that often come with safety or moral concerns. Such experiments include not only gene editing but also cloning, cell therapy, and nanotechnology. In a shift from the independence usually granted to military institutions in China, the 30-member ethics board will also oversee clinical research being conducted in military hospitals. STAT contributor Jane Qiu has the story for STAT Plus subscribers here.