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The Chinese scientist who claims to have created the first genetically modified babies, He Jiankui, defended his experience and pointed out that there was a second pregnancy, "in its infancy," with this type of embryo. "If technology is available, we can help the people who need it," he said at a presentation at the second conference on the human genome edition, which will feature is held this week in Hong Kong.
In front of a room that can seat 700 people totally congested and a huge presence of journalists, he explained that during the experience he had worked with seven couples in which the man was carrying the AIDS virus and the woman was not it; an extra couple decided to retire. Apparently silent, he apologized for having made his experience known before the Congress, without informing the organizers, and assured that an article containing the test data had been sent to a scientific journal. He did not identify the magazine.
This lack of specificity characterized the vast majority of his answers to the many questions of those present. He insisted that he had consulted at every stage of his research of other scientists, Chinese and foreign, without identifying at any time. He also assured that he had advanced his study at a conference in New York last year, again without providing more details.
Why did you think this research was medically necessary and why did you choose to focus on the gene used by the AIDS virus as a gateway? As explained, by the discrimination suffered by their carriers and the prevalence of the disease. "I feel proud, I am even more so because the father (binoculars) thought that he had lost all hope in his life."
The geneticist, trained at the American universities Rice and Stanford, surprised the world on Monday by announcing the birth "a few weeks ago" of Nana and Lulu, two Chinese twins who have been modified the gene CCR5, the AIDS virus is used as a gateway to attack the human immune system. According to him, the girls are in perfect health, at home, and their experience has not caused any unwanted mutations.
The scientist, who returned to China in 2012, recruited seven couples of heterosexual volunteers for his test. In all, the man was carrying the AIDS virus. Until the successful gestation of embryos in "Grace", the mother of the twins, she used eleven embryos during six attempts to implant.
In the videos posted on YouTube, he says he is ready to accept the criticisms and controversies about an approach that he deems scientifically necessary. "It's not about creating designer babies, but a healthy child," he said. He does not try to "improve the intelligence, to change the color of the eyes, the appearance or something similar.It's not about that." His method, insists-t it, "could be the only way to cure some diseases".
But his announcement has sparked strong criticism. A group of 122 Chinese scientists signed a rejection letter in which they describe the experience of "madness" and lament the blemish that it has cast on the reputation of research in this country. The scientific authorities have ordered the opening of an investigation into the evidence provided by He.
The university where he worked as an associate professor, the Southern University of Science and Technology, has distanced himself from it by pointing out that the geneticist has been on leave since February. And even the hospital with which he collaborated denounced a possible falsification of signatures.
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