CHINESE authorities Thursday ordered the suspension of research activities by persons involved in the gene-edited babies incident, denouncing the matter as “extremely abominable in nature” and in violation of Chinese laws and science ethics.

The gene-edited twins matter reported by the media has brazenly violated Chinese laws and regulations and breached the bottom line of science ethics , which is both shocking and unacceptable, Xu Nanping, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told Xinhua.

China’s National Health Commission and the China Association for Science and Technology also spoke against the incident.

He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, claimed Monday to have altered the DNA of twin girls born a few weeks ago to prevent them from contracting HIV. His claim remains unproven but the incident has triggered heated debate in the scientific community and on social media. (Xinhua)