Chinese scientist claims to have created world’s first GENE-EDITED babies that resist HIV virus in ‘monstrous’ experiment
The controversial experiment has divided the world's scientific community
A CHINESE scientist claims to have created the world's first "genetically edited" babies.
The twin girls are said to have altered DNA that protects them against HIV, the AIDS virus. But use of the gene-editing procedure has been branded “monstrous” by critics.
This type of science is banned in the UK, because it's often considered unethical and unsafe. But He Jiankui, of Shenzhen, China, said he has successfully achieved the feat, according to the AP.
Jiankui claims to have altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments. This is believed to have resulted in one pregnancy – a pair of twin girls.
Prof Julian Savulescu, from the University of Oxford, said: “If true, this experiment is monstrous. These babies are genetic guinea pigs.”
Dr Sarah Chan, from the University of Edinburgh, called it a cheap publicity stunt and “despicable”.
According to Jiankui, the goal wasn't to cure or prevent inherited diseases.
Instead, he hoped to give the babies a natural trait that helps them resist future HIV infection.
Jiankui said that the parents didn't want to be identified or interviewed, and declined to say where they live – or even where the work was done.
It's also important to note that Jiankui's claims haven't been independently verified, and his work wasn't published in a journal.
Instead, the news was revealed at a conference on gene editing in Hong Kong.
According to the BBC, the Shenzhen hospital said to have housed the project "denied doing so".
"I feel a strong responsibility that' it's not just to make a first, but also make it an example," Jiankui told the AP.
"Society will decide what to do next."
Despite Jiankui's claims of a world-first, scientists are divided over whether the experiment should ever have happened.
Dr Kiran Musunuru, a gene-editing expert at the University of Pennsylvania, described it as "unconscionable", and called it an "experiment on human beings that is not morally or ethically defensible".
And Dr Eric Topol, of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, said: "This is far too premature.
"We're dealing with the operating instructions of a human being. It's a big deal."
But Harvard University's George Church said HIV is a "major and growing public health threat", and described the gene-editing experiment as "justifiable".
What is gene editing?
Here's what you need to know...
- Gene editing involves inserting, deleting, modifying or replacing the DNA of a living organism
- It could help protect humans against diseases and natural illness
- And some believe that gene editing could give us superhuman enhancements
- These could include boosted sense of smell or improved night vision
- Scientists are divided over the ethics of gene editing
- Editing DNA is a new and risky science that could have unknown consequences for babies
- And DNA-editing could lead to societal changes, with the prospect of "designer babies" becoming real
- This could lead to severe inequality – a future where only the rich can afford to modify their DNA could lead to a new elite race of superhumans
- Gene editing has been successfully performed on mice embryos
- And one Chinese scientists claims to have successfully gene-edited the embryos of two human baby girls
Chinese scientists were also responsible for creating the world's first gene-edited mice earlier this year.
The mice were able to live to adulthood, and even have offspring of their own.
It's illegal to create genetically-altered babies in the UK.
But earlier this year, the Nuffield Council of Bioethics said that changing a human embryo's DNA could be "morally permissible".
In a report, leading science ethicists suggested that it would need to be in the child's interests, and that it didn't work to deepen societal inequalities.
"It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” said Karen Yeung, a professor of law and ethics at the University of Birmingham, who chairs the Nuffield working group. There is no reason to rule it out in principle."
Do you think gene-editing babies should be allowed in the UK? Let us know in the comments!
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