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It all turned against He Jiankui, the scientist who shocked the world three days ago by announcing the birth of two twins. that he has genetically modified. His colleagues at the Human Genetic Edition Congress in Hong Kong have declared the experience "deeply troubling" and "irresponsible" in their final statement. And the Chinese authorities, who had already announced the opening of an investigation, have banned tonight the geneticist and his team to continue their work. According to the Government, this investigation violates Chinese law and is "extremely abominable in nature".
This experience is "unacceptable," said Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Xu Nanping, in an interview published by China's state television network, CCTV. By modifying the genes of implanted human embryos to obtain a pregnancy, he has not only "ignored the ethical principles and morality that govern the university community," said the deputy minister, but "also shamelessly violated our laws and regulations. "
" We asked departments responsible for suspending the scientific activities of staff who participated in "these tests, Xu added. The disgraced geneticist had already announced Wednesday, during his appearance before the congress of Hong Kong, the paralysis of his experience "given the current situation".
A very unflattering situation even before concluding the official investigation. The scientific community has turned its back on him. "Even if the changes (which he claims to have made, although he did not submit evidence) are verified, the procedure was irresponsible and contravened all international standards," says the resolution. Final of the Organizing Committee of the Congress of Geneticists, which ended Thursday. in Hong Kong.
The resolution of this panel calls for an independent evaluation of the investigations of He Jiankui, who claimed to have modified, using Crisp Cas9 technology, the gene that uses the AIDS virus as a gateway to the immune system in two embryos. fertilized in vitro and from which were born two girls who, according to the scientist, are doing well. I also admitted a second fertilization with altered genes.
There is no independent scientist or institution to whom the geneticist is related that makes the difference between this research and no ethics committee has ever been aware of their experiences, such as Standards set.
Last Monday, the surprise announcement of the birth of two genetically modified babies for the first time provoked a great stir in the international scientific community. He Jiankui appeared in a video published on the network in which he explained an experiment that, apparently, had been carried out in secret and without appropriate ethical and clinical requirements.
On Wednesday, it was his first appearance. Since that he has revealed that he had managed to alter the DNA of two newborn twins – Nana and Lulu – in their embryonic stage to make them resistant to the infection of the human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS, he was proud of his feat and refused to criticize. admitting that this may be "the only way to cure some diseases". But his speech did not convince the public.
He had to participate on Thursday in another panel of the specialists' conference, but finally canceled his appearance "on his own", according to the Nobel Prize of Medicine David Baltimore, one of the organizers of the summit of geneticists.
Consequences
Many experts have warned of the consequences that this modification may have on the man of future generations. "By doing this, it modifies the stock of human genes, we might not see the impact until several generations later," said Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, chairman of the department's pathological chemistry. University of China in Hong Kong. . According to him, there is still no academic consensus to perform such tests in humans.
However, the path to reach this agreement could begin to be shaped by recent events. The congress organizing committee pointed out that, despite these obvious difficulties and risks, "the progress made over the last three years and the ongoing summit discussions suggest that it is time to define a rigorous and accountable path leading to at such trials ". [19659004] On the other side of the Pacific, the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Medicine, Marcia McNutt and Victor Dzau, also expressed concern that " what happened in Hong Kong this week shows well It is clear that it is necessary that we develop more specific standards and principles that can be endorsed by the international scientific community. "
But there is no It is not easy to seek consensus among scientists from different parts of the world. Sarah Chan, a specialist in bioethics, "we can not consider the international scientific community as a single organ and ificado, is a digest in which there is a lot of diversity, therefore," we must be sensitive to different situations in different contexts "without forgetting that this type of proof – carried out without transparency -" goes beyond what is acceptable ".
Until these intentions materialize.He paralyzed his experiences.The reason: the scandal generated after the announcement and the barrage of criticism after the institutions and hospitals involved in the process denied their participation and an investigation was opened to try to clarify the steps taken by the Chinese scientist.
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