Scientists line up to target Chinese research on gene-modified babies

Scientists lined up to criticize Chinese biologist He Jiankui on Wednesday as he sought to defend his work on what he said was the first genetically modified baby in the world.

He said earlier this week that binoculars were born in China this month of two embryos that he and a team of researchers had modified to protect them from HIV.

At the second edition of the International Human Genome Editing of the University of Hong Kong, Nobel laureate and biologist David Baltimore said that he did not think the work was medically necessary.

"The choice of diseases we heard earlier in the day is much more urgent than protecting a person from HIV infection," said Baltimore, chair of the summit's organizing committee.

Baltimore also asked if he had consulted with his peers in bioengineering and immunology.

"I think the scientific community has failed in its process of self-regulation because of the lack of transparency," said Baltimore.

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The American biochemist David Liu, co-inventor of the CRISPR / Cas9 technology he used to alter the gene, said there was no unmet medical need for these girls.

"The father is HIV-positive and the mother is HIV-negative. You have already washed the sperm and have already been able to generate uninfected embryos that can give birth to uninfected babies, "Liu said at the summit.

Wei Wensheng, a biologist at Peking University in Beijing, also questioned the claim that "untargeted risks", which would disrupt the functioning of other genes, were under control during the experiment.

"You mentioned that you did a sequencing of the entire genome of a cell. As far as I know, there is no reliable or mature technology for sequencing the entire genome of a cell, "said Wei.

But He Jiankui said that he and his team found no adverse effects in the twins' cells.

Wei also said that he had dodged his questions about the medical need to alter the human genome for immunity against HIV.

Chinese bioethicist Zhai Xiaomei said that the informed consent that he had posted on his laboratory's website was not in line with the consensus of the international community on genome editing.

In a statement released Monday, US biochemist Jennifer Doudna, another co-inventor of the CRISPR / Cas9 technology, called the scientists responsible for the job to explain "their break with the global consensus that the application of CRISPR / Cas9 for human germ line editing should not continue at present.

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She also called for a public and transparent discussion on technology so that "this news does not detract from the many important clinical efforts to use CRISPR technology to treat and cure diseases in adults and children."

Earlier Monday, a group of more than 120 Chinese scientists signed a letter condemning gene editing, describing the work as "crazy" and "unethical".

The Beijing Ministry of Science and Technology has vowed to shed light on these claims and the health authorities of Guangdong and Shenzhen province – where he claimed to have conducted the experiment – have joined forces for investigate.

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