[ad_1]
The Chinese scientific community has condemned He jiankui"Work on the CRISPR babies, describing his experience as useless, of inferior quality and presenting a significant risk for infants.
In an article published in the journal Biology Plos, Haoyi Wang of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hui Yang from the Shanghai Research Center on Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence were dismantled and reported all that was wrong in the science behind He Jiankui's work.
In their article, the two Chinese researchers expressed their first reaction on hearing the announcement of his speech on November 28. They wrote:
"As researchers working in the field of gene editing in China, we have been completely shocked by this news. It seems that He had done this work in secret. As far as we know, it has not published any outstanding scientific articles in the field of gene editing and has not been actively involved in the community of the '. gene editing in China. "
An experiment on CRISPR babies may fail
It was the evening before the 2nd International Summit on Human Genome Publishing in Hong Kong last November, when he revealed that he had changed the CCR5 genes to several embryos using the controversial Gene editing technique CRISPR to make them resistant to HIV.
The embryos were brought to term and one of the many attempts resulted in the birth of binoculars, now considered the first CRISPR babies in the world.
According to Wang and Yang, his work was a "An extremely irresponsible fault, which has clearly violated the regulatory and medical ethical standards of China and countries around the world."
The duo pointed out that gene editing of CCR5 genes in embryos is not necessary to prevent an HIV-positive father from transmitting the infection to the virus. fetus. Infected fathers can still produce healthy babies Assisted reproductive technology (ART) which has a higher success rate than the CCR5 gene modification at the moment. Chinese researchers added:
"In terms of future immunity to HIV infection, it is simply necessary to avoid the potential risk of HIV exposure for most people." Therefore, the edition of early embryos does not bring any benefit to babies, while posing potentially serious risks on several fronts. "
The work of a dishonored scientist was scientifically and ethically irresponsible
The authors also criticized the lack of research papers to support He Jiankui's claims. The disgraced scientist had not published any article on his work on any platform. The only data he showed in the world were those contained in the PowerPoint slides that he presented at the summit and which were considered insufficient for an audit.
Chinese scientists have concluded that there is no genetic reason for gene editing on the human germ line based on the little information that he has made available to the public. The authors claimed that the scientist responsible for CRISPR babies and his cohorts had flagrantly violated Chinese regulations and the agreed consensus of the international scientific community.
"We strongly condemn their actions as extremely irresponsible, both scientifically and ethically. We strongly urge the international community of scientists and regulators to begin an in-depth discussion as soon as possible to define the criteria and standards for genetically modifying the human germ line for reproductive purposes.
Read More: Researcher warns of improved brains of Chinese twins edited by genes
[ad_2]
Source link