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Shanghai –
Chinese health authorities and medical ethics opened Monday an investigation into the statements of a scientist who posted on YouTube videos claiming to have changed the genes of twins born earlier this month. ci, which would imply that he created the first genetically modified babies.
The South University of Science and Technology of Shenzhen City, in southern China, where scientist He Jiankui has an badociate professorship, said that he did not want to do anything. was unaware of the project and that the investigator was on leave without pay since February
. He had defended what he claims to have achieved, claiming that he had carried out genetic editing intended to protect babies from future AIDS virus infection. But the university said the investigation constituted a "serious violation of ethics and academic standards" and experts around the world condemned it, calling it "monstrous and dangerous." ".
The entity issued a statement as a result of what I said in Five videos released Monday using a genetic editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to modify genes Lulu and Nana twins, baby names after He.
The National Health Commission of China said that it was "very worried" and ordered the provincial health authorities "to investigate immediately and clarify the matter." "We must be responsible for the health of the people and we will act according to the law, "he said in a statement.
The Shenzhen Medical Ethics Committee declared that he was investigating the case.
videos that the editing process, which calls genetic surgery, "works as well as expected" and that girls are "as healthy as any other baby". It was impossible to verify the claims, as the expert did not provide written documentation regarding his study.
Solution to genetic diseases
CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology allowing scientists to copy and paste DNA, offering a hope for genetic solutions for diseases. However, he also raises concerns about his safety and ethics.
"If true, this experience is monstrous," said Julian Savulescu, a specialist in medical ethics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Kathy Niakan, an expert at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said: "If it is true (…), this would constitute a very irresponsible, unethical and dangerous use of technology. of genomic publishing . "
The Southern University of Science and Technology stated that he would be on leave until 2021 . Contacted for comments, he said – without specifying a date – that he had had several years of voluntary leave to focus on his research.
"I understand that my work will be controversial, but I believe that families need this technology and I am willing to accept" criticism, "says the scientist in one of the videos.
In a previous interview with Reuters, he stated that his goal was to give babies "lifelong protection" against HIV which began work in the second half of 2017 and has enrolled eight HIV-positive couples. Five chose to implant embryos, including the parents of the twins, identified only by the pseudonyms Mark and Grace. (I)
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