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MADRID, Spain. (EFE) .- Spanish scientists have warned today that the announcement that they had obtained from genetically manipulated babies was not published in a scientific and journalistic journal. therefore had not been evaluated either; "You can not play to be god in this way," said Jose Alcamí Pertejo of Institute of Health Carlos III .
"This subject – referring to the Chinese researcher leading the investigation He Jiankui – is a criminal," said Alcamí, for whom this announcement could do "a lot of harm to science" .
His team claims to have genetically created the first babies in the world. modified by the technique CRISPR / Cas9 in two twins to make them resistant to diseases such as HIV .
Alcamí pointed out that this announcement "will generate a kind of warning against scientists that we are working well" with this "wonderful" technique: this gentleman, comparing his simulator, "attacked a bank and now, they will treat us like thieves. "
Elusing codes of ethics
And lo and behold, according to the scientist, it seems that the Chinese research team has ignored all the ethical codes: no one knows how the experiment was done – l & rsquo; Shenzhen University in which they work has no trace of the study – and if it is confirmed that a human embryo manipulation, this will generate a movement against.
For Alcamí, the CRISPR technique "is fascinating and the people who use it know that it is possible to edit the genome and modify cells in culture or even mice – always with the corresponding authorizations, any research project must be in conformity –
Risk of unexpected mutations
"But we also know that this can introduce mutations outside the specific area, so that the system is not not validated for use with humans. "
" It is therefore not excluded that these girls have mutations introduced into other genes that are not seen now but that might be theirs. to pose problems in the future, "said the scientist.However, the Chinese team based its experiments on the" deactivation "of the gene CCR5 used by HIV as a gateway in the claiming that this technique was still re somewhat unpredictable.
immune system but, according to Alcamí, the deactivation of this gene also has consequences, as it facilitates other infections by viruses such as West Nile fever.
"We can not play the gods in this way," lamented Alcamí, who recalled that all that concerns the use of this technique is already very much controlled by the committees. ethical and regulated by the law of biomedical research.
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