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Well-known scientists raised other questions after a Chinese scientist repeated that he helped create the first baby in the world to be published by a gene.
He Jiankui spoke at a meeting on gene editing in Hong Kong where the conference leader described his experience as "irresponsible" and said that it proved that the scientific community had not managed to self-regulate to prevent premature efforts to modify human DNA.
The work is very controversial because the changes can be inherited and could harm other genes and are banned in many countries.
The scientist, Mr. He, said the twins born earlier this month had their DNA modified to make them resistant to possible HIV infection.
Mr. He said, "They need this protection because a vaccine is not available."
Jennifer Doudna, a scientist at the University of California at Berkeley and one of the inventors of the CRISPR gene editing tool that Mr. He claimed to have used, said, "He is a development really unacceptable.
"I'm thankful he came here today, but I do not think we've heard any answers. We still need to understand the motivation for this. "
Harvard's David Liu and MIT's Broad Institute, the inventor of a variant of the gene editing tool, said, "I feel more disturbed now.
"This is a terrible example of not facing a promising technology that has great potential for society. I hope this will never happen again.
There is no independent confirmation of Mr. He's request and he has not yet appeared in any scientific journal where his work would be controlled by experts.
At the conference, Mr. He omitted or refused to answer many questions, including: who funded it, how is it ensured that participants understand the risks and potential benefits, and why did he keep his job secret until the next day?
After the intervention of Mr. He, David Baltimore, Nobel laureate of the California Institute of Technology and conference leader, said that the scientist's work "would still be considered irresponsible" because they did not meet the criteria on which many scientists agreed a few years ago. editing could be considered.
Mr. Baltimore said, "Personally, I do not think it was medically necessary."
The case shows "that there has been a failure of self – regulation on the part of the scientific community" and that the conference committee would meet and issue a statement on Thursday. future of the estate, "said Baltimore.
Before talking to Dr. He, Dr. George Daley, Dean of Medicine at Harvard University and one of the organizers of the conference, cautioned against a brutal reaction to genetic modification due to from Mr. He's experience.
Dr. Daley stated that, even if the first case was a mistake, it "should never lead us to plunge our head into the sand and not consider the very, very positive aspects that could result. a more responsible way ".
"Scientists going bad … it's a huge cost to the scientific community," said Dr. Daley.
Regulators have been quick to condemn the experience as being unethical and unscientific.
The National Health Commission of China has ordered local authorities in Guangdong Province to investigate Mr. He's actions, and his employer, the China University of Science and Technology, is also investigating.
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