Another gene edited baby might be on the way, says a scientist

By Marilynn Marchione, Associated Press, November 28, 2018.

Feng Zhang, center, member of the Harvard Institute and Broad Institute of MIT, reacts to reporters on the problem of the first genetically modified babies in the world after the conference on human genome editing in Hong Kong Tuesday, November 27, 2018. He Jiankui, a Chinese According to the researcher, he contributed to the creation of the world's first genetically modified twinned baby, whose DNA he modified with a powerful new tool able to rewrite the model itself of life. If this is true, it would be a giant leap forward in science and ethics. (AP Photo / Vincent Yu)

HONG KONG – A Chinese researcher who claims to have helped create the first genetically modified baby in the world says that a second pregnancy could be in progress.

The researcher, Shenzhen's He Jiankui, revealed the pregnancy Wednesday by making his first public comments on his controversial work at an international conference in Hong Kong.

He claims to have altered the DNA of the twins born earlier this month to try to make them resistant to infection with the AIDS virus. The mainstream scientists have condemned the experiment, and universities and government groups are conducting research.

The second pregnancy is at a very early stage and needs more time to be monitored to determine if it will last, he said.

Renowned scientists said that there were now even more reasons to worry and more questions than answers after the discussion of He. The conference leader described the experience as "irresponsible" and proved that the scientific community had failed to self-regulate to prevent premature efforts to change the situation. ; DNA.

Modification of DNA before or at the time of conception is highly controversial because the modifications can be inherited and can harm other genes. It is prohibited in some countries, including the United States, except for laboratory research.

He defended his choice of HIV rather than a deadly inherited disease as a test for gene editing, and insisted that girls be able to benefit from it.

"They need this protection because no vaccine is available," he said.

Scientists did not buy it.

"It's a really unacceptable development," said Jennifer Doudna, a scientist at the University of California at Berkeley and one of the inventors of the CRISPR gene editing tool that he said he used. "I'm thankful he came here today, but I do not think we've heard any answers. We still need to understand the motivation for this. "

"I feel more disturbed now," said David Liu of Harvard and the Broad Institute of MIT, and inventor of a variation of the gene editing tool. "This is a terrible example of not facing a promising technology that has great potential for society. I hope this will never happen again.

There is no independent confirmation of his request and he has not yet been published in any scientific journal where he would have been approved by experts. During the conference, he failed or refused to answer many questions, including the payment of his work, how he ensured that participants understood the risks and potential benefits, and why he had kept his job secret until the next day.

After speaking, David Baltimore, Nobel laureate of the California Institute of Technology and conference leader, said his work "would still be considered irresponsible" because it did not meet the criteria on which many scientists are concerned. were agreed several years ago to be considered.

"Personally, I do not think it was medically necessary. The choice of diseases that we have heard about today is much more urgent "than trying to prevent HIV infection this way," he said.

While gene editing is permitted, many scientists have stated that it should be reserved for the treatment and prevention of serious inherited disorders, with no valid alternative, such as sickle cell disease and Huntington's disease. HIV is not an appropriate candidate because there are already safe ways to prevent transmission and, if it is contracted, it can be controlled with drugs, researchers said.

The case shows "that there has been a failure of self-regulation on the part of the scientific community" and that the conference committee would meet and issue a statement Thursday on the future of the field Baltimore said.

Before speaking, Dr. George Daley, Dean of Medicine at Harvard University and one of the organizers of the conference, cautioned against a brutal reaction to genetic modification because of the experience from He. The fact that the first case may have been a misstep "should in no way lead us to plunge our head into the sand and not to take into account the very, very positive aspects that could flow from a more responsible, "said Daley. .

"Scientists who get mean … it's a huge cost to the scientific community," Daley said.

Regulators have been quick to condemn the experience as being unethical and unscientific.

The National Health Commission ordered local authorities in Guangdong Province to investigate its actions. His employer, the Chinese University of Science and Technology of the South, is also investigating.

Tuesday, Who Renzong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences criticized the decision to let him speak at the conference, saying that the statement "should not be on our agenda" before having examined by independent experts. It has not been clear if it has violated the laws on reproductive medicine in China. Who says yes, but said: "The problem is that there is no penalty".

He called on the United Nations to hold a meeting to discuss the edition of hereditary genes to promote an international agreement on when this could go.

In the meantime, more and more American scientists have reported having contacts with He and knowing or suspecting what he is doing.

Dr. Matthew Porteus, a genetics researcher at Stanford University, where he did postdoctoral research, said he told him in February that he intended to try to modify the human gene. Porteus said that he was discouraging him and told him "that it was irresponsible, that he could risk the entire field of genetic modification by doing so cavalierly".

Dr. William Hurlbut, a Stanford ethicist, said he had "spent many hours" talking with him over the last two years about situations in which gene editing might be appropriate .

"I knew his early work. I knew where he was heading, "said Hurlbut. When he saw her four or five weeks ago, he did not say that he had tried or managed a pregnancy with published embryos, but "I strongly suspected him", said Hurlbut.

"I do not agree with the idea of ​​coming out of the general consensus of the scientific community," said Hurlbut. If science is not considered sufficiently ready or secure, "it will create misunderstandings, discordance and mistrust".

Jennifer Doudna and David Liu are paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also supports the AP Health and Science Department.

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter: @MMarchioneAP

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This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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