[ad_1]
"I have to apologize, the result was leaked unexpectedly," said a Chinese scientist.
The Chinese scientist, who claims to have created the world's first genetically modified babies, said Wednesday that the trial had been suspended, following an international outcry sparked by this highly controversial procedure.
He Jiankui defended his work in front of a busy biomedical conference in Hong Kong, claiming that he had succeeded in altering the DNA of binoculars born to a HIV-positive father, a first on the medical front.
A total of eight couples of volunteers – HIV – positive fathers and HIV – negative mothers – had registered for the trial, one of them having been abandoned before being suspended. .
He said that there had been "another potential pregnancy" involving a second couple, but that when asked questions, it was agreed that it was a problem. a chemical pregnancy – a term referring to a very early miscarriage.
"I have to apologize, the result was leaked unexpectedly," he said about the apparent breakthrough. "The clinical trial was halted because of the current situation," he added.
The conference was turned upside down by claims of genetic revelations from babies, after the university professor posted a video stating that DNAs have been altered to prevent them from contracting HIV.
This decision sparked a heated debate within the scientific community, raising many concerns about the lack of verified data and the risks of exposing healthy embryos to gene editing.
The editing of human embryos can create unexpected mutations in other areas, called "untargeted effects," which can continue until birth, experts warn.
But he went on stage Wednesday to justify his work and was bombarded with questions while he was telling the public that parents were aware of the potential dangers when they registered.
"The volunteers were informed of the risk posed by the existence of potentially off-target potential and decided to implement it," he said.
He also stated that the university where he worked was "unknown to the progress of the study".
The Southern University of Science and Technology, located in Shenzhen City, in southern China, had distanced himself from He, saying that he had been on unpaid leave since February and had "seriously violated ethics and academic codes of conduct".
The organizers of the second International Summit on the Human Genome Publishing, which opened Tuesday, also said they were unaware of his work.
The conference moderator, Robin Lovell-Badge, said his lawsuit was a "step back" for the science industry, but he nonetheless described the birth of these babies as "memorable".
"This is an example of an approach that was not sufficiently prudent and proportionate," he said.
"Clearly, however, it's a point in history … These two babies would seem to be the first gene-modified babies, so it's an important point of history."
Summit Chairman David Baltimore, Nobel laureate, said that there had been a "failure of self-regulation by the scientific community due to a lack of transparency" .
He says "would be considered irresponsible," said Baltimore.
Ethical process bypbaded
Trained at Stanford University, he explained that twins' DNA had been modified using CRISPR, a technique that allows scientists to remove and replace a strand with extreme precision.
Gene editing is a potential solution for inherited diseases, but it is extremely controversial because the changes would be pbaded on to future generations and could potentially affect the entire gene pool.
In many countries, editing of human DNA is tightly controlled.
Qiu Renzong, former vice chairman of the ethics committee of the Chinese Ministry of Health, told reporters that weak regulations in China mean that scientists who break the rules are often not punished and think that ministry is "without teeth".
The National Health Commission of China has ordered an "immediate investigation" on this case, reported the Xinhua official news agency, while the Shenzhen hospital supposed to have approved the research program had denied his involvement.
A union of Chinese scientists issued a statement in which he said he "would resolutely oppose the so-called scientific research and applications of biotechnology that violate the spirit of science and technology." "Ethics," said Xinhua.
The case has damaged China's international reputation in the field, said the Chinese Union of Life Sciences Societies.
This is not the first time that Chinese researchers are experimenting with the technology of the human embryo.
Last September, scientists from Sun Yat-sen University used an adapted version of gene editing to correct a mutation causing disease in human embryos.
There is also a history of fraud in the Chinese academic community, including a scandal last year that resulted in the removal of 100 "compromised" academic papers.
A joint statement Monday from a group of 100 scientists in China criticized He Jiankui's claims and described them as a "hard blow to the reputation and development of biomedical research in China."
(With the exception of the title, this story was not changed by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source link
