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He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher who claims to have created the first genetically modified babies, was suspended without pay from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Shenzhen. The scientist is now under investigation to determine if the experiment violated Chinese laws or regulations.
Last night, we reported on the secret Chinese project to produce babies whose genomes have been modified to make them resistant to HIV. Then, in the hours that followed, Jiankui posted a video stating that the twins, Lulu and Nana, were in good health and were born "a few weeks ago".
The researcher stated that the girls were designed using fertilization in vitrobut that his team had added "protein and information" to the fertilized eggs. It was a reference to the ingredients of CRISPR, the gene editing technology he had apparently used to eliminate a gene called CCR5.
Response from the scientific community
The experience has been controversial because, while eliminating genetic diseases, it could also be used to design human beings and to develop a new form of eugenics. As a result, some scientists were surprised and strongly condemned the news.
"It's inconceivable … an experiment with humans that is not morally or ethically defensible," said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, expert in genetic editing at the University of Pennsylvania and editor-in-chief of the University of Pennsylvania. A journal of genetics.
Fyodor Urnov, Associate Director of the Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Seattle, USA, reviewed the papers Chinese and said that, although incomplete, show that "this effort is aimed at producing a human being" with modified genes. He said "worried about the fact that genetic publishing, a powerful and useful technique, was used in an environment where it was not necessary".
Dr. Eric Topol, who heads the Scripps Translational Research Institute in California, said it was "too premature". "We are dealing with the employment of a human being, it is very important," he added.
Reviews of China itself
Jiankui's colleagues followed the same line of thinking. The Shenzhen Medical Council of Experts on Medical Ethics has announced the opening of an investigation and issued a statement that HorMoniCare "in accordance with our findings … has never established the appropriate reports in accordance with the requirements ".
Similarly, the former medical director of the private hospital, Jiang Su-Qi, said News from the southern capital, who had no recollection of having approved Jiankui 's investigation into his ethics committee.
"These two children are guinea pigs and will go through their maturation process because they did not understand the risks in advance," said Liu Yan, from the Center for Research in Molecular Medicine at Peking University.
The president of Jiankui University has convened an emergency meeting of researchers related to the project. "This has nothing to do with SUST, the investigation was not conducted on SUST and investigators are currently suspended without payment," said SUST President Chen Yi. According to the department of biology of the school, the investigation "seriously violates ethical and academic rules and regulations".
By the way, a group of 122 Chinese academics and scientists issued a statement condemning the investigation and asking the authorities to establish a legal framework for the editing of genes. "This is a blow to the image and development of Chinese life sciences on the world stage," they said. "It is extremely unfair for many honest and sincere researchers to work to conform to moral practices in the field of science."
Victor Roman
This news was originally published in N + 1, the science that adds.
About N + 1: This is the first online science and technology dissemination journal that allows the total or partial reproduction of its content through communication, bloggers and influencers, by mentioning the text and the link to the web: "This news was originally published in the magazine N + 1, the science that adds: www.nmas1.org ".
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