[ad_1]
The Chinese scientist who claims to have helped create a pair of HIV-resistant genetically modified twins could have other babies of this type on the way.
He Jiankui, who studied at Stanford University and Rice University, revealed today (November 28) the existence of another "potential pregnancy" during A conference on human genome editing held at the University of Hong Kong, where an auditorium filled with scientists, journalists and photographers – whose cameras were so powerful that they sometimes covered his voice – questioned the scientist three days after his controversial claims were revealed.
On Sunday, November 25, MIT Technology Review and the Associated Press reported that her experiments had resulted in the birth of binoculars named Lulu and Nana. Of the seven couples in their trials, all men are HIV-positive, while women are not. Couples have undergone in vitro fertilization, in which a sperm is injected into an egg in a petri dish, and then after a few days, a live embryo is planted in the mother's womb. In this case, however, there was a small adjustment. After the fertilization of the egg, his team injected Crispr-Cas9, a genetic tool able to precisely target and cut a specific gene among 20,000 human genes.
His claims have not yet been independently verified. His employer, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said in a statement (link in Chinese) that his research had been conducted without his knowledge. The National Health Commission of China has ordered an investigation to verify Mr. He's claims, while more than 100 Chinese scientists have condemned his claims as "crazy" in a co-signed letter. Rice University has also opened an investigation into one of its researchers who reported cooperating with He.
At the conference, he gave a PowerPoint presentation explaining the scientific basis of his experience, but not before apologizing that the results of this experiment had "leaked unexpectedly" – an assertion that would have been disconcerting to many. of people who had given him interviews and recorded videos on YouTube in advance, with the schedule of these upcoming reports a few days before the opening of the conference yesterday. He also acknowledged that the study had not been peer reviewed and that his university was not aware of it.
He then answered many questions from the journalist and his peers. Most of them said that they were deeply concerned about the ethics and procedures of his experience. They insisted that he provide more information, from funding to the informed consent process to the well-being of children … to which he offered generally vague answers and suggestions. evasive. One participant asked him if there were any other genetically modified pregnancies as part of his clinical trials, for which he said that there was "another potential pregnancy".
The Chinese scientist defended his experience and said he was "proud" of his achievements and rejected the arguments that resistance to HIV infection was an unwise reason to genetically alter embryos . For example, David Baltimore, Nobel laureate of the California Institute of Technology and chairman of the conference, said in a speech that he did not think his experience was "medically necessary", but instead referred to it as & # 39; "irresponsible".
He started his presentation with a slide explaining that HIV remains a serious problem in China, the number of infections increasing even though global rates have dropped since 2000. He then explained that his experience with residents of "AIDS villages In China – where some parents put their children to other family members to raise to avoid infection – helped him decide that this was a valid reason for undertaking the study.
Many had questions about the transparency of the study and the extent to which the seven groups of parents who had participated in the study had a perfect knowledge of what they were doing. His answers were succinct, explaining that he had "consulted" American and Asian scientists about the clinical trials, but he did not explain directly why he kept his secret tests of the Chinese authorities. Urged to clarify the informed consent process, he said the parents – who had been contacted through AIDS support groups – were "very well educated", but avoided a question asking whether their colleagues conducting the trials had been trained to accept consent. He added that the informed consent form had been put online to be viewed by the public.
He also did not answer the question of where the funding for his tests came from, but said that his private companies were not involved. He stated that some of the costs of sequencing were at the expense of the university and that he had taken care of the medical care and expenses of the participants.
Above all, it seems that the question of the welfare of the twins has elicited the most lively reactions of the crowd. He assured the audience that he would monitor them for the next 18 years, but did not respond directly to a question of whether their modified genotype would affect their education. He also referred to an article published on November 26 in the Crispr Journal that he had co-authored and entitled "Draft Ethical Principles for Assisted Reproductive Technologies". As further evidence of his belief and confidence in his experience, he closed his presentation by saying that if the embryo was going to be his baby, he would also experience it.
Source link
