WHO calls for global database of human gene editing research to be made 'public'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for all the human genome editing data to be made public in a new recommendation issued on July 12. The health agency urged the global registry to encourage whistle-blowers to step forward, and track “any form of genetic manipulation”, or unethical and unsafe research related to gene therapy. The move was prompted by the announcement made by the Chinese scientist He Jiankui about creating the world’s first “gene-edited babies”. He was later convicted by the Chinese government for breach of the ban on own experiments on human embryos. Jiankui’s experiment with gene therapy had sparked global condemnation and was fined three million yuan ($430,000; £328,000) and prison time. 

On Monday, WHO’s expert committee released two reports urging the scientific community to make all such human genome editing experiments public. “In the field of stem cell research, unscrupulous entrepreneurs and clinics have deliberately misused clinical trial registries by registering procedures they plan to undertake as if they were properly sanctioned clinical trials,” the group said in a statement. Scientists called for the global health agency to ensure that all the genetic editing researches were registered in the WHO database and was in fact properly reviewed by the ethics wing. 

“UN should develop ways to identify any potentially concerning gene editing trials. A mechanism should be developed for reporting violations of research integrity,” the group urged, pushing for installing a system that keeps a tab on the illegal medical practices.

Illegal gene-editing techniques turned 'cheaper, accessible' 

One of the experts on the WHO committee, Robin Lovell-Badge of the Francis Crick Institute said that the order was issued after several reports of the controversial gene-editing experiments being conducted by scientists in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey emerged. The WHO asking the global registry for establishing a formal whistle-blowing mechanism to raise concerns about unethical or unsafe research.