Genetic Editing in China

[Randy W]

from the NY Times

 

Chinese Scientist Claims to Use Crispr to Make First Genetically Edited Babies

 

The researcher, He Jiankui, offered no evidence or data to back up his assertions. If true, some fear the feat could open the door to “designer babies.”

 

 

A microplate from Chinese scientist He Jiankui’s lab, containing embryos whose genes have been edited. Dr. He’s announcement prompted a statement from a group of 122 scientists condemning his actions as “crazy.”CreditCreditMark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

Gina KolataSui-Lee Wee

 

Now, the moment they feared may have come. On Monday, a scientist in China announced that he had created the world’s first genetically edited babies, twin girls who were born this month.

The researcher, He Jiankui, said that he had altered a gene in the embryos, before having them implanted in the mother’s womb, with the goal of making the babies resistant to infection with H.I.V. He has not published the research in any journal and did not share any evidence or data that definitively proved he had done it.

But his previous work is known to many experts in the field, who said — many with alarm — that it was entirely possible he had.

“It’s scary,” said Dr. Alexander Marson, a gene editing expert at the University of California in San Francisco.

While the United States and many other countries have made it illegal to deliberately alter the genes of human embryos, it is not against the law to do so in China, but the practice is opposed by many researchers there. A group of 122 Chinese scientists issued a statement calling Dr. He’s actions “crazy” and his claims “a huge blow to the global reputation and development of Chinese science.”

 

 

 

from Wikipedia

 

CRISPR is an abbreviation of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.[4] The term was first used at a time when the origin and function of these subsequences were not known and they were assumed to be prokaryotic in origin. CRISPR are segments of DNA containing short, repetitive base sequences in a palindromic repeat (the sequence of nucleotides is the same in both directions). Each repetition is followed by short segments of spacer DNA from previous integration of foreign DNA from a virus or plasmid.[5][6] Small clusters of cas (CRISPR-associated) genes are located next to CRISPR sequences.

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

Unrepentant Chinese scientist He Jiankui apologises for sparking global controversy, but says he is proud of his achievement

• Speaking at international conference in Hong Kong, academic says couples who took part in experiment gave informed consent
• Scientist reveals second woman may be pregnant, but does not give details

 

Two days later, he was grilled on the necessity of the experiment and his responsibility for the lives of the gene-edited children, who risked developing unintended mutations and even had the potential to change the gene pool of the human species, according to critics.

 

. . .

 

“The father is HIV positive and the mother is HIV negative. You already did sperm washing, and thus you already could generate uninfected embryos that could give rise to uninfected babies,” Liu said at the summit.

 

. . .

 

The fathers among the seven couples who took part in the project were HIV positive. He said his team had originally enrolled eight couples with HIV-positive fathers and HIV-negative mothers, but one pair dropped out.

“For this specific case, I feel proud actually,” the Chinese scientist said of the twins experiment. “I feel proudest because Mark [the twins’ father] thought he had lost hope for life.”

Responding to criticism about the lack of transparency in his research, He said all the couples had consented and his study was under peer review, having been sent to a journal he did not name.

The parties mentioned in his research have denied any knowledge of He’s project.

He is facing intense pressure back home, with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology investigating whether he has broken the law, and the country’s scientific community joining in the global chorus of concern and condemnation.

 

[True Blue]

I wish this was around in the 1950's --someone could have edited out my "beer belly" gene.

[Randy W]

I wish this was around in the 1950's --someone could have edited out my "beer belly" gene.

 

 

There's still hope for you - https://www.phillyvoice.com/beer-belly-70-pound-tumor-retroperitoneal-liposarcoma/

[Randy W]

An Abby Normal brain ? From the SCMP

 

Gene-edited Chinese babies may have enhanced brains, scientists say

• He Jiankui could have altered cognitive functions of twin girls when he used CRISPR to disable the CCR5 gene that allows HIV to infect human cells
• CCR5 is linked to deficits in learning and memory but it is impossible to predict the effect of gene editing, according to neurobiologist

 

He, who was found to have “seriously violated” Chinese laws in the pursuit of his work, likely changed the cognitive functions of twin girls when he used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to disable the CCR5 gene that allows HIV to infect human cells, the MIT Technology Review reported.

Neurobiologist Alcino J. Silva, from the University of California, Los Angeles, who co-authored a 2016 study that found CCR5 was linked to deficits in learning and memory, said the gene editing likely affected the babies’ brains, though the exact effect was impossible to predict.

“The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins,” Silva was quoted as saying.

 

 

[amberjack1234]

I wish this was around in the 1950's --someone could have edited out my "beer belly" gene.

True Blue, you must be a young whippersnapper.

[Randy W]

from the SCMP

 

China’s gene-editing ‘Frankenstein’ jailed for three years in modified baby case

• He Jiankui and two others convicted on charges related to manipulation of embryos to prevent HIV infection
• Three babies were born as a result of the illegal experiments

 

 

“None of the three defendants acquired doctor’s qualifications. [They] craved fame and fortune, and deliberately went against the country’s regulations on scientific research and medical management. [They] went beyond the bottom lines of scientific research and medical ethics,” according to the Nanshan District Court in Shenzhen.

The court also found He had forged documents to get past the ethics review, and had fabricated information so that medical doctors had unknowingly implanted gene-edited embryos into two women.

 

 

[Randy W]

 . . . and NOW, . . . He's BACK!!

China's scientist scorned for baby gene editing is out of jail and back in the lab

from NPR

He Jiankui announced nearly five years ago that he had created the first gene-edited babies. Aowen Cao/NPR

Quote

 

About a year ago he got out, and says he took up golf. Then something unexpected happened.

"There [were] over 2,000 DMD patients, they are writing to me, text me, make phone call to me," he says.

DMD, or Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is a genetic disease that causes muscles to waste away. There is no cure yet. The patients, and their families, had heard about He from his baby project, he says.

"They want me to develop therapy for them," he tells NPR in an interview.

The scientist's move back into the lab comes at a time of lingering questions about his past work — and is raising new concerns among experts about his motivations and those of the Chinese government, which jailed him and tightened regulations on gene editing in the wake of his experiment on embryos.

He's conviction also came with conditions on future work. The government banned He from doing anything related to assisted human reproductive technology, and imposed limits on his work relating to human genes. Many of the details were not made public, however, and he did not respond when NPR emailed him for clarification.