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Not so long ago, an outcry was raised against Dolly the Sheep, the first animal created by cell cloning. Now, if we believe a Chinese researcher, we have taken the step of cloning animals to genetically edit our own offspring.
The researcher, He Jiankui of Shenzhen, claims that the twins known as Lulu and Nana "started crying, world as healthy as all the other babies" several weeks ago, and are now at home with their parents.
He, accompanied by a Chinese team and the badistance of an American scientist – who traveled abroad because of the current ban on this modification of DNA in the United States – have been able to crush and alter the DNA of twins through the CRISPR gene modification tool, according to the Associated Press.
Medical Alteration and Resistance to Disease, ie HIV / AIDS Virus
The embryos provided by seven couples have been altered, with a successful pregnancy to date. According to the scientist, the successful pregnancy, culminating in twins, was carried out with the help of the sperm of a man named Mark, HIV carrier, and "never having thought that he could have children ".
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"Grace [the mother] began her pregnancy with a difference: after sending her husband's sperm into her eggs, we have also sent some protein and instructions for gene surgery., "he says. "When Lulu and Nana were more than a single cell, it removed the door through which HIV enters to infect people."
The gate of the protein is used by a gene called CCR5 that allows HIV to enter the cells. It is this gene that the team has focused on publishing.
He added that a few days later, the team had sequenced genes to see if the changes had taken root. According to the scientist, "the surgery worked as expected" and no other gene was changed.
CNET: New & # 39; pencils & # 39; However, the test was carried out in secret and no document has yet been submitted for the purpose of scrutiny by peers in the field of genetic sequencing and editing.
The identity of parents and children involved in the trial – which some call irresponsible and dangerous human experimentation – was also kept anonymous.
If such claims are true, it is a major element. an important step in the science that could give birth to a generation with resistances inherent to some of the most debilitating diseases existing. However, such a future also raises a number of ethical issues and the possibility of a slippery slope with respect to "designer" children and what DNA could – or should – be modified.
The research, which has not been independently verified, was revealed before a conference on gene editing that is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Hong Kong.
TechRepublic: DIY genetic engineering is about to explode
The seemingly used tool to perform the experiment is known as palindromic repetition short aggregated and regularly spaced (CRISPR / CRISPR-Cas9), a genome currently being published tool based on a natural editing system in bacteria. By using CRISPR, dangerous genes can be disabled.
Scientists around the world are still exploring the potential applications of this tool, but for some, modification of human DNA may have arrived too early.
"It's too premature.," Dr. Eric Topol of the Scripps Research Translational Institute of California told the AP. "We are dealing with the use of a human being.It is a big problem."
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