Controversy after the announcement of the birth of genetically modified babies "Diario La Capitale de Mar del Plata

HONG KONG – A Chinese scientist announced on Monday that he had had in vitro fertilization with modified genes giving rise to HIV-resistant twins, an announcement that provoked ethical criticism for an act considered "dangerous." "and" irresponsible ".

He Jiankui, a professor at the University of Shenzhen in southern China, posted on YouTube a video announcing the birth, a few weeks ago, of two twins whose DNA was modified to withstand the AIDS virus. He said the father is HIV positive.

The Stanford-based researcher in the United States, who runs a genome laboratory in Shenzhen, said he used the Crispr-Cas9 technique, called "genetic scissors," to remove and replace unwanted parts of the genome. , such as correcting an error in a computer.

Babies, called Lula and Nana, are born from the in vitro fertilization of a modified embryo before being implanted in the womb of the mother.

"Just after injecting the husband's sperm into the egg, an embryologist injected a Crispr-Cas9 protein to modify a gene to protect the girls from future HIV infection," He said. Jiankui.

This self-proclaimed medical event has not yet been independently verified. The results of the Chinese team have not been published in a scientific journal.

"Announcing these results in a video on YouTube is a very problematic scientific practice," said Nicholas Evans, professor of philosophy at the University of Mbadachusetts Lowell, in the United States, who works on bioethics issues.

"This removes the control processes on which many scientific advances, such as peer badessment, are based," he added, interviewed by AFP.

Whether it is announced or not, the issue raises "serious ethical issues," says Sarah Chan, of the University of Edinburgh, cited by the Science Media Center.

"Making such statements, apparently deliberately seeking maximum controversy (…), is irresponsible," he added.

He Jiankui did not immediately respond to AFP's questions.

His announcement comes on the eve of a global genome expert conference in Hong Kong, where the researcher is expected to present his results in detail.