(Yicai Global) Nov. 28 -- A life science union under the China Association for Science and Technology "resolutely opposes so-called scientific research and biotech applications that violate the spirit of science and ethics," it said yesterday, state Xinhua news agency reported.

The case of the claimed genetically edited babies breaches ethics and morality as well as applicable regulations, the Chinese Union of Life Science Societies, with 22 national-level organizations as its members, said in the statement.

He Jiankui, the Chinese researcher who claims to have gene edited two recently born twins to immunize them against human immunodeficiency virus, has severely disturbed the scientific research order and seriously damaged China's international reputation in the life science field. The careful use of gene editing technology is a matter that implicates the health and long-term well-being of mankind, per the statement.

(Editor: Ben Armour)