A Chinese scientist has claimed to be the first to create genetically modified babies. This news caused amazement and anger within the scientific community, but He Jiankui defends his work.
“Deeply worrying”, “shocking” and “monstrous”. The announcement of the birth of the first genetically modified babies has not gone unnoticed. For a large part of the scientific community, the researcher behind the project crossed an ethical red line. He Jiankui was born in China and educated in the United States. For the first time since the start of the controversy, he spoke at the summit on genome editing at the University of Hong Kong on Wednesday.
Babies protected from AIDS
They are nicknamed Lulu and Nana. The two twins were born a few weeks ago after in vitro fertilization. The embryo was genetically modified before being implanted in the mother’s uterus. Why such a change? To make babies resistant to HIV contamination, the father being HIV positive. He Jiankui, a university professor in Shenzhen, China, says he used the “genetic scissors” technique, whose scientific name is CRISPR-Cas9.
This method, which has already made it possible to eliminate the AIDS virus in animals, consists of removing and replacing undesirable parts of the genome. When eggs and sperm were combined, scientists added a CRISPR protein to modify the CCR5 gene. Turning off this gene helps “close the door” through which HIV can enter and infect cells. Note, however, that the two girls were born without being infected with the AIDS virus.
Icy reception from the scientific community
He Jiankui held out to express his pride during his speech at the genome editing summit at the University of Hong Kong despite the chilly reception from fellow scientists. Someone asked him if he would have done this risky experiment with his own child.
Without hesitation, He Jiankui replied “yes” if he had faced the same situation. The scientist took the opportunity to throw a bomb: there would be a second potential pregnancy. At this time, this medical first has yet to be independently verified. The researcher’s work has not been published in a scientific journal. A self-proclamation that participates in the controversy.
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