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Shenzhen, China – China has suspended He Jiankui – the scientist who claims to have produced the first babies in the world to be modified by a gene, and he is now at risk of being sentenced to punishment after publicly disclosing research that many scientists have condemned as irresponsible.
His work was "extremely horrible in nature," Xinhua News Agency spokesman Xi Nanping told Xinhua Thursday, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Xi said that the genetic engineering of the twins' DNA so that they do not develop HIV violated the scientific ethics, adding that the gene editing of human embryos for reproductive purposes was "explicitly prohibited" in China.
He confessed Wednesday at a gene editing conference in Hong Kong that he had already started another pregnancy, but it was too early to say whether the test would end in the long run.
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| An embryo receives a small dose of Cas9 protein and sgRNA PCSK9 in a sperm injection microscope at a Shenzhen laboratory [Mark Schiefelbein/AP] |
A source confirmed to Al Jazeera that he had returned to Shenzhen, although repeated calls to his cell phone went unanswered and several messages sent over the phone were read unanswered.
David Cyranoski of Nature magazine said on social media that he was in the southern city and ready to "cooperate fully with all inquiries" regarding his work.
& # 39; Resolutely treated & # 39;
The scientist will likely be confronted with a host of questions from institutions in Shenzhen as well as from the Ministry of Science and Technology. The National Health Commission of China said its activities would be investigated and that any wrongdoing "would be resolutely resolved," according to Xinhua.
Qiu Renzong, professor emeritus of the Institute of Philosophy and director of the Applied Ethics Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, still does not know what punishment he could incur given that Chinese law is wave with respect to law enforcement.
His research has sent a shock wave to the international scientific community, with many concerns being raised about the lack of verified data and the risks of exposing healthy embryos to gene editing. Scientists have long been concerned about the consequences for humankind of such genetic engineering.
R Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, said that while he had led the trial in the United States, "he allegedly violated public law" and involved "sanctions [that] are both civil and criminal "because of the approvals required by the Food and Drug Administration for human cells and therapy studies where cells are brought into gestation.
Intervention of the police?
According to Qiu, in Hunan Province in 2012, three researchers were arrested and then fired, as well as three officials who approved testing vitamin A-enriched GM rice on schoolchildren without their consent.
"Three scientists were sanctioned, they were fired and they could not apply for subsidies for a while, so [He’s case] may be similar to this, "Qiu told Al Jazeera. I do not think the police will be involved, but the ministries will discipline him. "
He said in a video released Sunday – the same day the world had learned about birth – that he had used the CRISPR-cas9 tool for modifying embryos, in order to remove the possibility that babies contract HIV from their father, who is infected with the virus. the virus.
The anthropologist Eben Kirksey pointed out that CRISPR has become a magic word related to HIV because of the promise that "just take the treatment once". But, he added, there are many other promising therapies for treating HIV, and he did not think that many HIV researchers "put a lot of hope" in the field of publishing genetic.
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| Researcher Zhou Xiaoqin, left, charges sgRNA molecules of Cas9 protein and PCSK9 in a fine glbad pipette from He Jiankui's laboratory in Shenzhen [Mark Schiefelbein/AP] |
He made partial excuses in front of a packed auditorium at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Modification in Hong Kong, although contrition seemed to be more related to birth information that had taken place before his research was conducted. approved by the scientific community, rather than for realizing it.
The scientist told delegates that he was "proud of" his work, adding that if the same situation occurred and that he was his child, he would "try it first".
Most other researchers thought that it was too early to achieve this, given the vast ethical issues raised by having "edited" – like Lulu and Nana, the names that it was. gave to twin babies – and "unedited" side living side.
"Would not it be useful to try to define a global code of ethical conduct, at least a minimum of consent, and what research and what is the norm?" asked Barbel Friedrich, director of the Alfried Krupp Institute of Higher Studies in Greifswald. "What we heard this morning was a violation of the law, which he acknowledged, but we need a global rule."
Institutions deny knowledge
On the other side of the border in Shenzhen, institutions distance themselves from He.
The Shenzhen Health and Family Planning Commission charged the city's committee of medical experts to investigate its activities.
The Southern University of Science and Technology, where he is an badociate professor and reportedly conducted the research without the knowledge of the university, has wrapped up his laboratory and suspended his work while waiting for a meeting. investigation. The Genome Research Web site related to Mr. He's work now seems inaccessible.
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| Researcher adjusts a microplate containing embryos injected with Cas9 protein and PCSK9 sgRNA into a Shenzhen laboratory [Mark Schiefelbein/AP] |
When Al Jazeera visited the researcher's laboratory, located on a sprawling campus in the heart of universities in the northern part of Shenzhen, security officers refused entry, complaining media trying to get on the site. The school's communications department did not respond to requests for discussion on the investigation of He's research activities.
At the front door, a police van was parked on the other side of the road, flashing blue and red lights.
The Shenzhen Harmonicare Women's and Children's Hospital, where the fertilization would have taken place, now denies any involvement in the work of He and said he believed that the signature on papers approving the experiment had been falsified. Attempts to reach hospital officials for further explanation were unsuccessful.
"We do not know yet if it was made," Qiu said about the newspapers. "Some scientists, for other reasons, these young scientists, want to earn a lot of money.
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