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A few days after the announcement by Jiankui He of having given birth to the first genetically modified children, the story takes even more confusing forms. The university for which he is an badociate professor or the University of Science and Technology of the South has distanced himself: "The research was conducted off campus and was not reported to the university or department. The university and the department were not aware of the research project and its nature"It is also pointed out that he took a period of leave from February 2018 from the university.
Even scientific colleagues have expressed their disappointment. 122 Chinese scientists signed a letter in which they denounced this practice from an ethical point of view. For these reasons, at the summit on the modification of the human genome in Hong Kong, he announced that stopped the project because of the intense discussion that took place. The organizing committee of the event itself pointed out that "we still need to determine"if the clinical protocols of the case were followed.
The Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen said that Jiankui He (photo) was on leave since February 2018 and that his research had not been carried out on campus and was not at current of the university.
He defends himself: "Evaluation research in a scientific journal"
The reason why He's research, which gave birth to two children modifying the genes to be protected by the HIV virus, has been so controversial lies above all in the factor that makes it even more difficult. A very experimental process. "This experience – Julian Savulescu, Ethics Expert at the University of Oxford, told the BBC – exposes healthy children to the risks of generic change without any real benefit being needed".
The question, in fact, is that, in the specific case, he used genetic modification, as a very experimental approach has said, to protect the two children – whose real name was never communicated – by the HIV virus. What can be done with much safer and certified methods – including precautions such as condoms or drugs to treat HIV – and without exposing children to a method that still needs to be subject to proper verification. In the specific case, it is therefore the father who has contracted HIV and not the mother.
The search for He is in short in the spotlight and every pbading day of history takes a turn more and more confused. At the top on the human genome edition He pointed out that his research would soon be verified by a scientific journal., without however revealing the magazine you are talking about and feeling "proud"of the result obtained and his work, adding however that"I have to apologize for the unexpected result of the results.".
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