Abstract

In a world’s first, scientists in China have reported gene editing in human embryos in 2015, while the United Kingdom and Sweden have both approved such experiments only in 2016. Despite the fact that several countries have now allowed human embryo gene editing, researchers in China were also the first in the world who reported the use of CRISPR gene editing on normal human embryos. This was reported by Chinese scientists on March 9, 2017. Chinese scientists announced the world’s first CRISPR clinical trial of a treatment for lung cancer in 2016. Even if this trial does not involve the genetic modification of human embryos, it is another indicator that researchers in China have moved faster in the gene editing field than researchers in other countries.