Soon another genetically modified child will come to the world.
A Chinese scientist who made genetic changes in children revealed that soon more will come to the world. It turns out that before he was caught by the police, he carried out several other experiments.
Recall that in November the world went round the news about the first ever genetic modification made in humans. The modified Chinese twins are not only immune to the HIV virus and will also be much more intellectually efficient than ordinary children. It's all the effect of a powerful biotechnology tool in recent years, or the gene editing method called CRISPR-Cas9, which allowed to remove the CCR5 gene from embryos.
At first, the world knew only from two children, a few months later it turned out that soon more of them would be born. Chinese professor He Jiankui, who made his controversial feat at the South China University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, officially failed to disclose in which families they were born and what modifications they made to them, but it is known that they exist.
It must be emphasized here that the entire scientific world strongly condemned these experiments, including the Chinese government and representatives of local scientific institutions. Two girls, twins who were born at the end of last year, feel great. Their parents were not aware of the experiment they were involved in, which is why this case has grown to a global level. Children have been isolated from society to ensure the safety of themselves and all citizens.
Experts from the World Health Organization have declared that such experiments are a huge threat to humanity. Despite the fact that in the future they may turn out to be salutary for many people, they are now a threat to it, because this field of science is still in its infancy, we know nothing about these processes and we can not control them completely. Doctors believe that the CCR5 gene, which has been removed from children's embryos, in one case may protect against HIV, but at the same time accelerate infections with other serious diseases.
Over the following months and years, they will be observed and examined for general health and the possibility of defects appearing. The same will happen to the next modified children, mentioned by the controversial scientist. Recent research from the University of Berkeley, conducted in this respect, revealed that children with a changed CCR5 gene will have a shorter life. Researchers have analyzed up to 400,000 deaths and DNA records from a British biobank. It turns out that people with inactive CCR5 genes had a shorter life expectancy than people with CCR5 genes. There was a 21% increase in mortality in later life.
The authorities believe that if a similar experiment were not revealed or out of control, humans would be able to show unknown and difficult to predict and control mutations. They can eventually result in the appearance of monstrous defects in future generations. That is why the Chinese government has reacted to this news in a way that is different.