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Binoculars from China unintentionally marked the story of last year by becoming the first babies in the world to be changed. But it is the story of the scientist who carried out the procedure, He Jiankui, who made the headlines. As a result of his "irresponsible" actions, he was shunned by his colleagues, placed under house arrest and subjected to an investigation.
He used the CRISPR gene editing tool to alter the DNA of the twins and give them resistance.human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can progress to AIDS. The entire operation took place even before the birth of the twins, Lulu and Nana, while they were still technically human embryos. However, disabling the CCR5 gene could have done more than just immunize against HIV.
If further research is needed, the elimination of this gene may have given a boost to the memory of the twins and enabled them to develop their learning potential. A similar process has already been demonstrated to improve recovery in stroke patients and make mice smarter.
"The answer is probably yes, it has affected their brains," said MIT Technology Review's Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), involved in the two aforementioned studies.
"The simplest interpretation is that these mutations will likely have an impact on cognitive function in twins."
Of course, he adds, it's virtually impossible to predict exactly how this will affect Lulu and Nana in practice. There is no evidence that he has been active in "improving" the cognitive abilities of girls. Or even strong scientific evidence that the same benefits conferred on mice will occur in humans by disabling the gene.
But Silva, who has done a lot of research on the CCR5 gene, says that among the Silicon Valley crew, super-intelligent baby designers are attracting unhealthy interest. And it is this knowledge that led him to question the true motives of the procedure.
"I suddenly realized – Oh, shit, they're really serious about this bullshit," Silva said of the moment he first heard about twins.
Later, at a summit, he confirmed that he was aware of the possible cognitive effects of removing CCR5, but he went on to state: "I am against the use of the Edition of the genome for the purpose of improvement. "
While ethical ramifications are something that needs to be addressed and the real implications of surgery on Lulu and Nana remain to be determined, Silva thinks there is a real possibility that we may one day change human intelligence through genetics editing process.
"Would it be conceivable that at some point in the future we could increase the average IQ of the population? I would not be scientific if I said no. Work on mice demonstrates that the answer may be yes", he continued.
"But mice are not people, we just do not know what the consequences of these nonsense are, we're not ready for that yet."
And even if we can, that does not mean we should.
[H/T:[H/T:[H/T:[H/T:Review of MIT Technology]
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