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Third Expected Soon

A third 'CRISPR baby' may soon be or may recently have been welcomed into the world, reports MIT's Technology Review.

Shortly after researcher He Jiankui announced last November the birth of twin girls whose genomes he had edited as embryos, he also revealed that another pregnancy was underway. That pregnancy, Tech Review says, should just about be at term, but it wonders whether officials in China will announce the birth.

In the aftermath of He's announcements, China has drafted new regulations to oversee gene-editing work and is considering updating its civil code to protect human genes and embryos. The University of Miami's Rosario Isasi tells Tech Review that such efforts indicate that China is trying to change its regulatory landscape in relation to gene-editing of embryos and become more transparent, but she notes that officials could still keep mum.

Tech Review notes that researchers hope to learn more about how these editing efforts have affect the children's genomes, but that they and Chinese official acknowledge that the children and their parents have a right to privacy.