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About six months after the Chinese scientist He Jiankui introduced babies with modified genes for the first time in the world, the coldest minds finally prevailed: Scientists have gone through hundreds of thousands of medical records to understand the truth. Impact of modified genes on human health.
His team published the twin baby gene – and a third baby planned this summer – to neutralize a gene called CCR5 in the hope that it would make him immune to HIV.
But according to new research published in the journal Nature Medicinepeople with this genome are 21% more likely to die before reaching average life expectancy.
Scientists at the University of Berkeley have researched a repository of DNA from human subjects to search for the same CCR5 variants that He Jiankui had given to children, reports NPR.
They found that the same genome that could confer increased immunity to HIV also makes people vulnerable to dangerous flu and West Nile virus.
"What we found was that they had significantly increased mortality," Rasmus Nielsen, senior researcher, told NPR. "It's pretty substantial – we've been pretty surprised that the effect is so important."
His experiments have pushed many scientists to recommend not to hack the genes of human embryos until we know more about them.
"It's a lesson in humility," said NR George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School.
"Even when we think we know something about a gene, we can still be surprised and even surprised, as in this case, to discover that a gene that we thought was protective might actually be a problem . "
This article was originally published by Futurism. Read the original article.
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