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Cowboy researchers are criticized by the scientific community after claiming that they had genetically modified babies as being resistant to HIV.
The debate in the scientific community was launched after He Jianku, from the Southern University of Science and Technology, published a video on Youtube claiming to have copied and stuck the genes into embryos.
The CCR5 gene has been "disabled," making babies resistant to HIV, Jianku told The Associated Press.
Jianku allegedly promised seven couples a free IVF treatment if he was able to genetically engineer the embryos. The seven fathers were seropositive.
Since then, a couple has had binoculars – one has altered the two sets of genes while the other has only altered one.
Embryos consist of two sets of genes: one of their mother and one of their father.
Having a baby born with only a modified set is particularly worrisome for Dr. Hannah Brown, expert in reproductive biology, senior science storyteller at the Institute for Medical and Health Research of South Australia.
"It's obscene, it's hearsay, but the two babies have been genetically altered differently," Brown said every 10 days.
"If they were both edited the same way, they would have total resistance."
Brown suggests that this questions the true intentions of the research, namely that it was intended to test the safety and effectiveness of the technology.
The existence of proven HIV prevention methods, such as condoms, makes this practice ethically inexcusable for Brown.
"This is different from gene deletion for cystic fibrosis or Huntington's disease," she said.
"It's really scary, it's going in places that are not safe."
Another ethical concern is that the scientists involved have a financial interest in the companies that would most benefit from the success of the technology.
"It's an ethical shadow zone, these so-called scientists have a massive conflict of interest," Brown said.
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The validity of the research, which was undertaken with American scientist Micheal Deem, is questionable because Jianku chose to publish his findings through the media and not through a peer-reviewed journal .
"It is important to recognize that this information is unfounded, but is extremely worrying," Brown said.
"The implications for cowboy-style" researchers "taking experiments in their own hands may undermine the already fragile relationship between science and society."
The university, based in Shenzhen, said it did not know that research was underway on campus and launch an investigation.
"The research was conducted outside the campus and was not reported to the university or department," the statement said.
"The University will call on international experts to form an independent panel to investigate this incident and to disclose the results to the public."
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