[ad_1]
For a few seconds, the Hong Kong University's auditorium remained unresolved to find that He Jiankiu, the Chinese geneticist who had announced on Monday the modification of two newborns' DNA, Did not appear. "I do not know where he stands," said Robin Lovell-Badge, of the Francis Crick Institute, after presenting it. But after these moments of uncertainty, the researcher entered a parallel portfolio to defend an experiment that defeated the scientific community and announced that there was a second pregnancy with this type of illness. embryos "in its infancy". However, he stressed that, for the moment, he had stopped his tests "because of the current situation", in reference to the scandal generated by his investigation.
At the beginning of his speech, he apologized for having made his experience known without warning the organizers of the second edition of the Human Genome Summit, which is being held this week in the former British colony. As justification, he claimed to have sent the article containing the test data to a scientific journal, although he did not mention the name of the publication. In a speech filled with information gaps, he did not identify the supposed scientists consulted at the various stages of the investigation nor provided details on the alleged ethical follow-up that should have been carried out at each stage. according to the standards adopted by the members of his profession. .
"He gave only general features because he knows that he ignored good practices in all trials," said María de Jesús journal Medina Arellano, bioethics expert at the University of Mexico and one of the participants at the Hong Kong Scientific Congress. . "Seek recognition," he added.
The geneticist, trained at the American universities Rice and Stanford, surprised the world on Monday by announcing the birth, "a few weeks ago", of Nana and Lulu, two Chinese twins who have been modified the gene CCR5, that the virus of AIDS is used as a gateway to attack the human immune system. He said that after the decision of a couple to withdraw from the project, he had worked with seven other people in which the man was carrying the AIDS virus and the woman did not. was not. He added that after having succeeded in "Grace", the twin's mother had used eleven embryos during six attempts to implant. Now, he makes sure that the girls are in perfect health at home, and their experience has not caused any unwanted mutations. "I'm proud, I feel even more proud because the father (binoculars) thought he had lost hope in his life," he said.
"Hanging on the idea that his method" could be the only way to cure a disease, "the researcher, who said that he had self-financed his work and rejected any involvement of his company, insisted that "if technology is available, we can help those who need it."
With these statements, he alluded to his position after conducting a – even secret – investigation that could potentially help avoid hereditary diseases by eliminating or modifying the problematic coding of embryos. However, the lack of knowledge about the damage that can be caused not only to the individual but also to future generations, to the modification of these embryos, has been at the origin of the critics of scientists from different parts of the world .
Irresponsible
Including the Nobel Prize in Physiology, David Baltimore, one of the organizers of the congress in Hong Kong, who spoke after the speech of Mr. Il to regret having proceeded in this way "irresponsible" . "I do not think it's a transparent process, we only knew it after the children were born," he said to ensure the organization made a formal statement tomorrow.
In the same way, a group of 122 Chinese scientists signed a rejection letter in which they describe the experience as "insanity" and lament the blemish that he threw on the investigation's reputation. conducted in this country. And further. The scientific authorities have ordered the opening of an investigation into the tests conducted by Mr. He, the Southern University of Science and Technology in which he worked as an associate professor. Whoever collaborated would have denounced a possible falsification of signatures.
Despite the scandal and storm of criticism surrounding his announcement, he defended his experience by stating that he would be watching the two newborns for the next 18 years and, if possible, that the girls would agree, even after. Discrimination against AIDS-infected women in China – and the prevalence of this disease in different parts of the world – have been the reasons that led to an experiment that Medina believes should not not happened "There must be some exemplary consequences for this to happen again," said the expert.
But Pandora's box is already open and another genetically modified baby is on the way. While waiting to know what will be the position taken by the scientific community after the experiment, it has been clear. "If my son could have it (the AIDS virus), I would have done it with him too," he concluded before leaving through the back door.
Source link
