- #1
- 3,759
- 4,199
https://apnews.com/4997bb7aa36c45449b488e19ac83e86dHONG KONG (AP) — A Chinese researcher claims that he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies — twin girls whose DNA he said he altered with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life.
[...]
The researcher, He Jiankui of Shenzhen, said he altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments, with one pregnancy resulting thus far. He said his goal was not to cure or prevent an inherited disease, but to try to bestow a trait that few people naturally have — an ability to resist possible future infection with HIV, the AIDS virus.
He said the parents involved declined to be identified or interviewed, and he would not say where they live or where the work was done.
There is no independent confirmation of He’s claim, and it has not been published in a journal, where it would be vetted by other experts. He revealed it Monday in Hong Kong to one of the organizers of an international conference on gene editing that is set to begin Tuesday, and earlier in exclusive interviews with The Associated Press.
As detailed in the AP news story, most scientists believe the work to be unethical as the safety of the CRISPR gene editing technique used has not yet been fully established.
See also: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/...chnologies-wont-lead-designer-babies/']crispr-babies/[/URL]
For more information about the CRISPR gene editing technique, see the following PF Insights article: https://www.physicsforums.com/insig...chnologies-wont-lead-designer-babies/']crispr-new-gene-editing-technologies-wont-lead-designer-babies/[/URL]
For other discussions of human genetic engineering on PF see:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/first-human-embryos-edited-in-u-s.921238/
https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...chnologies-wont-lead-designer-babies/']crispr.949415/[/URL]