Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who previously shocked the world by announcing the successful results of embryo DNA alteration, said at a conference on Wednesday that he was proud of his team's achievement.
Earlier, the Associated Press reported that scientist He Jiankui claims to have participated in the first change in the DNA of an embryo in human history. According to the agency, the scientist changed the embryos of seven couples during reproductive treatment. To date, only one pregnancy has yielded results, two twin girls were born in November with altered DNA, the scientist says. According to him, his goal was not to cure or prevent a hereditary disease, but to try to instill an ability that ordinary people do not find, namely, to resist HIV infection.
“First of all, I certainly have to apologize … But it is for this achievement that I actually feel proud,” the scientist said during a scientific conference in Hong Kong, which was broadcast by China Central Television.
He said that the twin sisters, named Nana and Lulu, were born healthy this month, despite the fact that their father, Mark, is HIV-positive. According to the scientist, he is personally especially proud of the fact that science returned this opportunity to the girls' father, who had previously lost hope of continuing the family due to illness.
When the scientist was asked if he himself would participate in such an experiment, he replied that "if it were my child, and we had such a situation, I would first of all try this method."
He Jiankui explained that in his experiment, all fathers had HIV, while mothers were healthy. He also added that with effective HIV treatment, the disease can be contained and not infect the child. However, the experiment carried out is aimed at protecting the child from infection in the future.
At the same time, it was previously reported that the specialist conducted experiments on changing genes in mice, monkeys and human embryos in the laboratory for several years. The data of his research have not yet been published in scientific publications for verification by other scientists.
Earlier, the university in Shenzhen, where the scientist worked, said it was shocked by this information and considered the experiment to be a gross violation of ethical standards. The institution emphasized that He Jiankui did not inform the university and the Faculty of Biology about the ongoing scientific work outside the university.
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At the same time, the State Committee of the People's Republic of China for Healthcare and Planned Childbirth ordered an investigation.