An American scientist at Rice University was far more involved in the widely condemned “CRISPR babies” experiment than has previously been disclosed. Most notably, STAT has learned that Rice biophysicist Michael Deem was named as the senior author on a paper about the work that was submitted to Nature in late November.

Deem’s prominent authorship indicates that a respected American researcher played an instrumental role in the controversial project, which sparked a worldwide furor. His involvement could have encouraged volunteers to join the experiment and lent credibility to He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who led the work.

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While Deem might not have physically done the lab work, such as handling the embryos, being listed as an author, especially the last author, of the CRISPR-babies paper is strong evidence for Deem’s participation in the research in a significant way, said Hank Greely, a lawyer and bioethicist at Stanford University.

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Any federal grants Deem has could be in jeopardy. “That could be a very powerful sanction,” said Greely. “It could put him out of business.”

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While Deem might not have physically done the lab work, such as handling the embryos, being listed as an author, especially the last author, of the CRISPR-babies paper is strong evidence for Deem’s participation in the research in a significant way, said Hank Greely, a lawyer and bioethicist at Stanford University.