Just as predicted, the Chinese scientist who created the world’s first genetically-edited babies has now been heavily criticized and received backlash from all around the world for his actions.
He Jiankui, altered the DNA of the babies with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life. Many have now come out and labelled him as irresponsible terming his actions as deeply disturbing.
Speaking at an international conference on genome editing in Hong Kong, Jiankui said that he was “proud” to have successfully altered the DNA of twin girls born to an HIV-positive father, an apparent medical breakthrough.
“For this specific case, I feel proud, actually,” the scientist.
University professor He, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said the twin girls, born a few weeks ago, had their DNA altered to prevent them from contracting HIV. Eight volunteer couples, HIV-positive fathers and HIV-negative mothers signed up to the trial, with one dropping out before it was paused.
He said there had been “another potential pregnancy” involving a second couple, but it is unclear whether that pregnancy is still ongoing.
Southern University of Science and Technology has now distanced itself from He, saying that he had been on unpaid leave since February and had “seriously violated academic ethics”.
Qiu Zilong, a neuroscience researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai said that the project completely ignored the principles of biomedical ethics and conducting experiments on humans without proving it’s safe.
“We can only describe such behaviour as crazy,” said Qiu
Gene-editing of this nature is illegal in many countries including the US as the technology is still experimental and DNA changes can pass to future generations, potentially with unforeseen side-effects. Additionally, it is alleged that such experimentation is also banned by a Chinese regulators.
More than 120 Chinese scientists signed a letter condemning the claim by He.