21 Nov 2005 China starts to tackle ethics of bio-research
Monday, November 21, 2005
By Zhang Jun
China expects to draw up a comprehensive set of ethics by 2010 to regulate research into the cloning of embryonic stem cells, clinical drug testing and genetically modified crops, a senior official with the Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday.
China now bans the cloning of humans, but its present bio-ethics rules are otherwise general in nature.
Shen Mingxian, head of the ethics section of the Chinese National Human Genome Center in Shanghai, acknowledged that the "abuse" of human embryos has occurred in China and that foreign scientists have criticized the country's lack of safeguards. Shen did not elaborate on the problem cases.
Planing a firm code of ethics was a major topic of discussion at yesterday's 67th session of the city-based Eastern Science and Technology Forum.
Thirty-five Chinese and foreign scholars were attending the two-day event for discussions on the topic "Ethical and Legal Issues of Research Cloning and Human Embryo Administration."
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