A Chinese scientist says that he created the world's first babies in genetic engineering

In this photo of October 10, 2018, He Jiankui is reflected in a glass panel as he works in front of a computer in a laboratory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, in southern China. He helped create the first genetically modified babies in the world: binoculars that he altered DNA. He revealed it Monday, November 26 in Hong Kong at one of the organizers of an international conference on gene editing. (Photo credit: AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein)

A Chinese researcher said he used CRISPR gene modification technology to alter the DNA of binoculars born earlier this month, while babies were embryos. If the scientist's claims are true, the newborns are the first humans in the world to be genetically modified as embryos. This would be an important step that would raise many ethical concerns among researchers.

He Jiankui, the scientist who led the effort, announced the result in a promotional video on YouTube Sunday, just days before attending an international conference on the human genome edition scheduled this week to Hong Kong.

He does not yet have independent confirmation of his assertion and he has not published his findings in a journal where other researchers could evaluate the statement. The South University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, where he is an associate professor, issued a statement stating that the institution was not aware of the research conducted by the researcher and that the scientist was on leave without pay since February of this year. .

CRISPR controversy

CRISPR has been used in adults, but not in eggs, sperm or embryos that have been brought to term because changes in the DNA in these situations can be passed on to future generations. The technology may also unintentionally affect other genes. The United States does not allow the editing of genes in human embryos outside of laboratory research. Although China prohibits human cloning, it does not specifically prohibit gene editing.

He says he used gene editing to make babies resistant to HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS.

"I think it will help families and their children," he said. The Associated Press, who reported first. He announced his intention to work on a Chinese clinical trial database on November 8, 2018, well after the start of the research.

Embryos edited

He recruited HIV-positive heterosexual couples who wanted to be pregnant through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to participate in work through an AIDS advocacy group. To perform the gene modification, he first isolated the sperm and egg from each pair, then inserted a single sperm into a single egg to create an embryo. Then he performed what he called "gene surgery" and added the gene editing tools to the fertilized egg.

The gene editing tools have modified a gene called CCR5. Editing removes the door through which HIV enters the cell to infect people, he said in the video.

The published embryos grew up in a lab box for three to five days. At this point, the team and their team evaluated the edition by analyzing the genome of each embryo to verify that the procedure was working as intended.

Couples chose if they wanted to become pregnant with published or unedited embryos. In total, researchers published 16 of the 22 embryos and 11 were used during six pregnancy attempts.

When the twins, named Lulu and Nana to protect their privacy, were born, the researchers again sequenced the entire genome of the girls.

"No gene has been changed except the one that prevents HIV infection," he said in the video, adding that girls were as safe and healthy as other babies . But other researchers are not in agreement.

Ethical malaise

The tests suggest that technology has altered both copies of the gene in one of the girls, while only one copy has been changed in her twin. Researchers who reviewed the papers presented to the Associated Press said the findings "are insufficient to prove that editing is effective or to prevent harm," especially for the baby with a single modified copy of the gene.

He acknowledges that the work is controversial and says that designer babies should be banned. But, according to the Associated Press, other researchers have termed the search for human experimentation.