More than 100 scientists have signed a letter condemning "reckless experiments" on human genes after scientist He Jiankui announced his involvement in the first ever DNA change in a human embryo.
He Jiankui claims that he participated in the first editing of the DNA of an embryo in the history of mankind. According to the Associated Press, the scientist altered the DNA of seven couples' embryos during reproductive treatment. To date, only one pregnancy has yielded results, the twin girls were born in November with altered DNA, the scientist says. According to him, the goal was not to cure or prevent a hereditary disease, but to try to instill an ability that is very rare in ordinary people, namely the ability of the body to resist HIV and AIDS.
“As for any experiments that are currently being carried out without rigorous testing for ethics and safety, blind attempts to carry out a hereditary change in the genes of the human embryo, I, as a researcher in the field of biomedicine, strongly oppose,” says the text of a letter published by scientific portal "Zhishi fenzi" ("Intellectual") on the Weibo microblog.
According to scientists, the use of the described method of genetic modification in relation to people poses huge risks, there is nothing innovative in its application, and before no one has undertaken it due to unpredictable consequences.
In the scientist's experiment, as previously reported by the Associated Press, all fathers had HIV, while the mothers were healthy. The scientist added that with effective HIV treatment, the disease can be contained and not infect the child. However, the scientist's experiment is aimed at protecting the child from infection in the future. It was clarified that the specialist conducted experiments on changing genes in mice, monkeys and human embryos in the laboratory for several years.
Earlier it was reported that the Southern University of Science and Technology, where He Jiankui worked, issued a statement saying that he temporarily resigned from February 2, 2018 with a paycheck until January 2021. After the appearance of information about the experiment, the educational institution immediately contacted the scientist to clarify the situation, after which it convened an academic council. The university stated that the use of gene-altering technologies in the human embryo is a flagrant violation of scientific ethical principles and scientific practice. The institution said it would convene an expert council and publish the results after a thorough investigation.