A summit on genetics holds its breath for the details of the Chinese edition

The organizers of a conference that was turned upside down by revelations of retained gene developers hold their breath on what the controversial scientist at the center of the "breakthrough" will say when he enters the scene.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui is due to speak Wednesday at a summit of biomedical experts in Hong Kong, just days after reports that he created the first genetically modified babies in the world.

In a video posted on YouTube, the university professor He said that the DNA of their twins, born a few weeks ago, had been modified to prevent them from contracting HIV.

This decision, which would be a medical priority if it were true, has sparked heated debate within the scientific community. Many worry about the lack of verified data and exposure of embryos and healthy children to gene editing.

The organizers of the second International Summit on the Review of the Human Genome, which opened Tuesday, also seem unaware of his work.

Biologist and summit chairman David Baltimore told AFP on the sidelines of the conference that he "had no idea whether he was reliable or not."

"I have not seen any research and I do not know what he intends to claim," Baltimore said.

The guest speakers were stormed by the press during the opening day, after the conference drew international attention on the back of revelations about the baby gene.

John Christodoulou, director of genomic medicine at the University of Melbourne, said it seemed that the research had "bypassed the usual ethical regulatory processes".

"But if what he did, it's to edit human embryos and that they are born at birth … there is a real risk of unwanted effects," he said. he added.

"Technology can create mutations or break chromosomes in areas other than those we hope to target."

Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner of the University of Sussex told AFP Tuesday: "It will be very wise to ensure that this does not become a norm".

He studied at Stanford University and works in a laboratory located in Shenzhen, in southern China. He explained that the DNA of the twins had been modified using CRISPR, a technique that allows scientists to remove and replace a strand with extreme precision.

Gene editing is a potential solution for inherited diseases, but it is extremely controversial because the changes would be passed on to future generations and could potentially affect the entire gene pool.

– & # 39; Immediate Inquiry & # 39; –

Qiu Renzong, former vice chairman of the ethics committee of the Chinese Ministry of Health, told reporters at the gene editing conference that loose regulations in China mean that scientists who breaking the rules are often not punished and think that the ministry is "without teeth".

He Jiankui is scheduled to participate in a round table on Wednesday and express Thursday on the development of moral principles and safety standards for the editing of human genes.

But as skeptical experts have questioned the announced breakthrough, his research has also been criticized on several other fronts.

The National Health Commission of China has ordered an "immediate investigation" on this case, reported the Xinhua official news agency, while the Shenzhen hospital supposed to have approved the research program had denied his involvement.

The university in which he works also distanced himself, claiming he had been on unpaid leave since February, and described his claims as "serious violations of ethics and academic standards."

He did not respond to a request for comment from AFP.

The issue of editing human DNA is very controversial and in many countries it is tightly controlled.

But this is not the first time that Chinese researchers have been experimenting with human embryo technology.

Last September, scientists from Sun Yat-sen University used an adapted version of gene editing to correct a mutation causing disease in human embryos.

There is also a history of fraud in the Chinese academic community, including a scandal last year that resulted in the removal of 100 "compromised" academic papers.

A joint statement Monday from a group of 100 scientists in China criticized He Jiankui's claims and described them as a "hard blow to the reputation and development of biomedical research in China."