Chinese scientist claims to have created genetically edited babies
Alleged use of Crispr technology to edit out HIV gene raises ethical concerns
Regulators and medical experts have expressed outrage at a Chinese scientist’s claims that he used Crispr technology to create the world’s first genetically edited babies, a pair of twin girls.
Crispr works by snipping strands of DNA to disable or change faulty genes.
In a YouTube video posted on Sunday, He Jiankui, of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said the girls — referred to as Lulu and Nana “to protect their privacy” — were born a few weeks ago “as healthy as any other babies”.
Mr He — who is involved in multiple genetics-related businesses, including Direct Genomics, which raised Rmb218m ($31.4m) in April — said the girls were conceived by IVF, but “a little bit of protein and instructions for a gene surgery” had been added to their mother’s eggs, along with their father’s sperm.
The girls’ father is reportedly HIV positive, and the gene editing was undertaken to remove the CCR5 gene, which allows HIV to infect cells.
“When Lulu and Nana were just a single cell, this surgery removed the doorway through which HIV enters to infect people,” Mr He said.
But on Monday, Shenzhen’s state-run medical ethics expert committee launched an investigation into the “ethical issues” surrounding the case.
According to documents filed ahead of Mr He’s clinical trial, HarMoniCare Shenzhen Women’s and Children Hospital approved the experimentation. But local media have reported that the hospital has denied involvement in the case.
Mr He did not reply to a request for comment.
The scientist’s claims, which will be presented this week in Hong Kong at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, have not been published in a journal, where they would have been subject to rigorous peer reviews.
Some scientists warned that this left many questions unanswered, while others warned about the ethical implications of Mr He’s reported work, which is legal in China but banned in the US, UK and many other countries.
More than 100 Chinese scientists and academics signed a joint statement on Monday describing the trial as “insane”.
Joyce Harper, professor of human embryology at University College London, called Mr He’s claims “premature, dangerous and irresponsible”.
Dianne Nicol, director of the Centre for Law and Genetics at the University of Tasmania, said that reprogramming genes that would be passed on to future generations “is always deeply problematic for society”.
“Future generations don’t have the capacity to consent [as they are not born yet],” she said. “So you are relying on consent of the parents.”
Prof Nicol also warned that the risks of gene editing were “largely unforeseeable”.
“Although Crispr is touted as being more reliable when you put it in a cell, [you are counting on] it going to the right place in the genome and doing the right thing. But there is always a risk when you are putting something into a cell that it could go to the wrong part of the genome or have an effect that we don’t know about.”
Dusko Ilic, a stem cell scientist at King’s College London, also pointed out that there were many other ways to prevent HIV infection.
“Although He Jianhui claims that the couples fully understood the risk and they were offered a choice between non-manipulated or manipulated embryos, it does not make sense that they really have comprehended the risks to which they were exposing their babies and themselves,” Dr Ilic added. “If this can be called ethical, then their perception of ethics is very different to the rest of the world.”