Six companies and institutions were punished by the Ministry of Science and Technology due to breaching regulations on the management of human genetic resources, according to a report from the Beijing News on Thursday.
This is the first time for the Ministry of Science and Technology to announce administrative punishment for misconduct on human genetic resources. Involved companies and institutions include Beijing Genomics Institute, AstraZeneca, WuXi AppTec and Huashan Hospital, the report said.
The misconduct includes collecting, trading, exporting, and exiting human genetic resources out of the country in breach of the regulations. The punishments were given in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
In 2018, three companies were punished due to conducting research beyond what was approved. The three companies were all warned. The human genetic resources involved were confiscated and destroyed.
In 2016, WuXi AppTec was punished due to attempts to transport 5,165 human genetic resources marked as dog genetic resources out of China.
Human genetic resources, which include the human genome, human organs, tissues, cells, blood, and related gene materials and information, are essential to disease research and population health.
On October 10, China has set up a new set of regulations on human genetic resources to further protect its national biosafety, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency.
