[ad_1]
HONG KONG, Nov. 28 (Reuters) – A Chinese scientist at the center of a controversy over what he claims to be the world's first genetically modified children apologized Wednesday for the unveiled result unexpectedly while he was exposing his findings at a conference in Hong Kong. He Jiankui, badociate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, has addressed a crowded room of about 700 people attending the Human Genome Publishing Summit at the University of Hong Kong.
"First of all, I have to apologize The result was leaked unexpectedly and this study was submitted to a scientific journal for review," he said. He did not name the newspaper and said his university was not aware of his study.
In videos posted online this week, he said he used a gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of binoculars born from this birth.
He defended the work, saying that gene editing would help protect girls from HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS.
But scientists and the Chinese government denounced the work he said he had done. a hospital related to his research suggested that his ethical approval had been forged. [
The moderator of the conference, Robin Lovell-Badge, said that the organizers of the summit were not aware of the story until it triggers this week.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology that essentially allows scientists to cut and paste DNA, which gives hope genetic solutions for the disease. However, there are concerns about safety and ethics.
More than 100 scientists, mostly in China, said Tuesday in an open letter that the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to alter human embryo genes was dangerous and unjustified. "The Pandora's box has been opened," they said.
He specializes in genomic sequencing, bioinformatics and genome editing, according to his biography published on the summit's website.
and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Stephen Quake's laboratory at Stanford University according to the site.
(Report by Holly Chik, Farah Master and Anne Marie Roantree, edited by Nick Macfie)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Principles of Trust.
Source link
