China Opens Research on Genetically Modified Babies – Internationale

China ordered the opening of an investigation to verify the allegations. of a Chinese scientist who claims to have created the first genetically modified babies in history, an act described as "madness" by many researchers.

He Jiankui, a professor at the University of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province (south), said Monday in a video posted on YouTube the birth "a few weeks ago" of two twins, one of whom is a young man. DNA has been modified to make them more resistant to the AIDS virus.

"We have asked the health authorities of Guangdong Province immediately to open an in-depth investigation to establish the facts," reacted Monday night the National Health Commission, which He said "attach great importance" to this issue .

The announcement of He Jiankui sparked a wave of criticism from the global scientific community, including his own research center, Southern Science and Technology University, which she disapproved and declared "deeply shocked. "

The geneticist, trained at Stanford University in the United States and leading a special laboratory on the genome in Shenzhen, explains that he used the CRISPR / Cas9 technique, the "genomic scissors". It allows you to remove and replace unwanted parts of the genome, as it was to correct a typo in a computer.

The Lulu and Nana twins are born from an in vitro fertilization of modified embryos before their implantation into the mother's womb. 19659004] This self-proclaimed medical scoop was not corroborated as the results of the Chinese team were not published in a scientific journal.

More than 100 Chinese scientists, mainly biologists and doctors, lamented in a statement "an insanity," which badumes "a heavy blow to the global reputation and development of biomedical research in China." [19659010] YOU MAY BE INTERESTED