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"Two beautiful Chinese girls, Lulu and Nana, came into the world a few weeks ago crying and in as good health as another baby," He Jiankui said in a video posted on November 25 on Youtube.
According to He, genetic modification of embryos was performed with the new CRISPR-Cas9 technique, with the aim of making infants resistant to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The researcher of the Southern University of Science and Technology ensures that the genetic modification has borne fruit and that only one gene has been modified to prevent infection by the HIV. The identity of the babies and their parents was kept secret, but according to him, the father is HIV-positive and wanted to prevent the discrimination of their children.
He explains that he and his team convinced couples without children to participate. in experiments and fertilization technique in vitro was used. Scientists have modified the genomes of 16 embryos to eliminate the CCR5 receptor, since people who do not have it can not get HIV.
DW: How realistic is this information from China?
Jan O. Korbel: The human genome can already be modified for a while. However, the European Union prohibits these experiments on its territory. There is still a lack of important basic information about the conditions under which this experiment was carried out. There is no publication on this subject and, as a result, there is no comprehensive study that attests, independently, that it is scientifically verifiable.
What are the risks of manipulating the genome with CRISPR / Cas9? ?
The CRISPR / Cas9 method is a precise technique for use in a selected target, but genetic modifications outside this area can not be ruled out. his laboratory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province “/>
Scientists He Jiankui and Zhou Xiaoqin in his laboratory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
What are the advantages of CRISPR / Cas9? [19659002] This has advantages in basic research, for example. Researchers can make changes to virtually any part of the genome. Therefore, the genetic material can be studied much more precisely than before.
There are also very promising potential applications in applied research, such as the production of bacteria for the dairy or wine industry, and the cultivation of consumer crops. Still in biomedicine, the CRISPR / Cas9 method will undoubtedly play an important role.
In the genetic material of the two girls, the molecular receptor was eliminated by which the HI virus can enter the cell and infect it. What does it mean?
With the cut of a particular receptor, we try to reproduce a natural mutation. Thus, those affected should not be able to develop AIDS. An intervention of this type would be illegal in Europe, in addition to the lack of documentation on the additional effects of the modifications introduced
. This procedure is not only ethically objectionable, but very risky. Try to prevent an infectious disease with a new method, although protection options already exist.
What is the risk that other important genes are also eliminated or damaged during such an intervention?
It is still impossible to estimate the long-term consequences. Since in this case the cutoff occurs simultaneously in many cells and may even vary from one cell to the other, the consequences are even more uncertain. Stem cell manipulation is also illegal in Germany and Europe.
Jan O. Korbel specializes in computer biology, human genetics and genomics. Scientist at the Heidelberg European Molecular Biology Laboratory.
(JOV / CP)
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World AIDS Day: alarms are still activated
Sea of Lights in the form of a loop
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World AIDS Day: alarms still active
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World AIDS Day: alarms are still activated
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Author: Stephanie Höppner
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