The"He Jiankui gene-edited babies"incident not only drew strong criticism and condemnation from numerous scientists and scholars but also sparked discussions within the legal community regarding the legal issues involved in human embryo gene editing.The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China,which came into effect on January 1,2021,introduced legislative provisions concerning human embryo gene editing within its section on personality rights,thereby strengthening legal regulation in this field.However,Article 1009 of the Civil Code presents highly general provisions on human embryo gene editing.Controversies persist regarding its legal attributes,conflicts of rights,and remedies,rendering it impractical to resolve all legal issues in human embryo gene editing through this single article.Human embryo gene editing involves fundamental rights such as right to life,the right to health for multiple parties,including research subjects and the parents of gene-edited babies.The inadequacy of relevant laws and regulations fails to address the significant ethical and biological risks posed by the rapidly evolving field of human embryo gene editing.Therefore,further refinement and improvement of legal norms governing human embryo gene editing play a crucial role in safeguarding the healthy development of this emerging gene-editing technology.
Long Meiling (Wed,) studied this question.