The Chinese authorities announced the preliminary results of the investigation into the work of Jiankui He, who in November announced the birth of the world's first CRISPR children: in particular, they confirmed not only the existence of the twins Lulu and Nana, but also another pregnancy of the experiment participant. He, according to the authorities, acted independently, without informing anyone about his work, and grossly violated the ethical norms and legislation of the country. This is reported by the Chinese state agency Xinhua and the South China Morning Post.
The scientist claims that twins were born in November, in which he tried to create resistance to HIV infection by disabling the CCR5 gene. He spoke about his work in an interview with The Associated Press; there is no scientific article about his research or independent confirmation yet. However, his university, as well as the hospital that allegedly approved He's research, said they were conducting their own investigations. China's National Health Commission is also investigating the situation, and the country's authorities have officially suspended work on the experiment. He, meanwhile, managed to announce that another participant in his study was already pregnant. In December, the scientist was seen in a university hotel guarded by people in civilian clothes from an unknown agency.
According to Xinhua, He acted on his own without outside help, "deliberately avoided oversight" of his research (it is not specified what oversight is meant) and, in particular, forged the results of the ethical review of his experiment. Of the eight couples who participated in He's project, one woman gave birth to twins, and another is still pregnant.
The Guangdong provincial government plans to keep the children and mother with an unborn child under medical supervision, while He, his staff and organizations associated with the project will be punished (Xinhua did not elaborate on what charges will be brought against the scientist and how he will be punished, noting that the use of CRISPR in reproductive technology in China is prohibited).
Olga Dobrovidova
