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ROME – He's not at all repentant, he actually says that he's proud of what he's done despite the international protests and that he's "rising up" with the ### 39; announcement of a new pregnancy of a genetically modified embryo. The defense of He Jiankui, the Chinese researcher who announced a few days ago that he had already given birth to twins whose genomes have been altered, was staged at the International Summit on Genome Modification Human being underway in Hong Kong, from where, however, the news has come that the experiment is now suspended precisely because of the controversy that has arisen.
The scientist spoke to an audience of more than 700 international researchers, who asked him a series of questions. To those who asked him if any other ongoing pregnancies are part of the study, he replied that there was another "potential", still in its infancy, though, from A series of subsequent responses, it is not clear whether there has been a miscarriage or whether gestation is still going on. He admitted that the experiment targeted eight couples, who aimed to "silence" the gene that produces the protein allowing the entry of the HIV virus into cells.
The scientist said he was "proud" of the results obtained, ignoring the main objection formulated by the test experts, namely that the Crispr technique used for genome editing often produced unwanted changes in D & O. Other areas of the DNA. "The volunteers – he said, but repeated that they had stopped the test for" the current situation "- were informed of the risks of possible unintentional changes to the DNA, but they have decided to implant the embryos ".
During his speech, He Jiankui explained the different stages of the test, which began with tests on animals a few years ago. All data would be sent to a scientific journal for publication, even if it was not specified which one. The experiment, admitted the researcher, was conducted outside the University of Science and Technology of the South, where he worked until last February, with personal resources of the same He.
The announcement made last Sunday with a video on YouTube from Mit Technology Review magazine sparked protests worldwide, starting with China itself, where more than 120 scientists signed a letter defining the experience "madness" and the National Health Commission opened an official investigation.
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