China Confirms Babies Genetically Engineered by CRISPR, Scientist Fired
Two months ago, Dr He Jiankui, a Chinese biomedical scientist, unveiled at a conference in Hong Kong he had successfully genetically modified 19 embryos. Two children had been born, twin girls, and appeared to be healthy. Furthermore, another pregnancy was underway with a genetically modified child. The scientist used the CRISPR-cas9, a genetic engineering technique using the cas9 enzyme, to change the genes of the embryos so they were highly resistant to HIV. The fathers of the children were infected with HIV and normal IVF or natural attempts at impregnation would infect the mother and quite possibly the child. The idea was the children would be highly resistant, if not immune, and even if the mother was inadvertently infected during the process, the children would live normal lives free of HIV.
There were several problems with Dr He's actions.
The first was the scientist did not have approval to do the world he did: he was lying to the university he was working at about what he was doing. He lied to the government of China. He lied to the parents as to what he was doing and even suggested the parents would be rewarded monetarily for doing the procedure. They had no idea he was modifying their children's genomes.
The second problem was CRISPR-cas9 technique still has a problem with off-target edits. This means the editing technique could accidentally modify a different part of the genome of the children. This can cause serious, even eventually fatal or permanently debilitating genetic defects in the children. This is why the scientific community has banned editing the genes of anything that will be passed on to another generation: the so-called germline editing. They have a plan to get there, but are far from there now. What Dr He did was wildly unethical from the scientific, as well as moral, point of view. During the second talk by Dr He at the Hong Kong conference, the scientific community was so angry, Dr He required bodyguards.
The scientific community has since questioned whether or not the event even took place. There have been wild claims in the past that turned out to be bunk and the community wanted proof even as they demanded Dr He's head, proverbially. On January 21st, 2019, the Chinese government confirmed the twin girls were, in fact, genetically modified as Dr He stated. The consequences of Dr He's actions have begun to unfold as a result.
The first is Dr He has been fired. The Southern University of Science and Technology located in the city of Shenzhen posted to their website a notice to that effect. All of his teaching, research and other duties at the university have ended immediately.
The second is that Dr He appears to be missing. He has not been seen in public since the conference in Hong Kong. It is highly likely, given China's track record, he has been taken into custody. The investigation into his activities is not yet done and officially he has yet to be charged with a crime. Make no mistake though: this is coming and it will be harsh.
Then there will be the global consequences of his actions. The death of a teenager, Jesse Gelsinger, in 1999 due to unethical actions of his doctors setback gene therapy for a decade. Will Dr He's actions cause the same backlash for CRISPR-cas9 research?
Finally, the consequences for the children, the twins and the pregnancy underway, have yet to be realized. These kids are the first genetically engineered people in the world. Will they be ostracized? Will they be simply not told of their status? Will the children end up as 'lab rats' and studied rather than be allowed to have normal (ish) lives? Will there be repercussions for their families for participating in the trials, even if unknowingly? Will there actually, even worse, be problems from the premature attempts at genetic engineering that will afflict the children for the rest of their lives? This one, we have no idea and will have to wait and see.
China confirms birth of gene-edited babies, blames scientist He Jiankui for breaking rules
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2182964/china-confirms-gene-edited-babies-blames-scientist-he-jiankui
Chinese scientist who gene-edited babies fired by university
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-babies/chinese-scientist-who-gene-edited-babies-fired-by-university-idUSKCN1PF0RA
A Chinese Researcher Claims to Produced Genetically Modified Babies, Twin Girls
https://steemit.com/science/@anzha/a-chinese-researcher-claims-to-produced-genetically-modified-babies-twin-girls
Second CRISPR Edited Pregnancy Underway, 19 edited embryos await implantation, ethics wildly violated
https://steemit.com/science/@anzha/second-crispr-edited-pregnancy-underway-19-edited-embryos-await-implantation-ethics-wildly-violated
CRISPR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR
What is gene therapy?
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/therapy/genetherapy
Jesse Gelsinger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Gelsinger