He Jiankui (a Chinese scientist), who disappeared from the public eye soon after declaring that he had altered three human embryos in 2018/2019, gave an interview. South China Morning Post (SCMP), Friday.
He stated that he hoped children who participated in his experiments would not become too obsessed with scientific analysis.
“They have a normal, peaceful and undisturbed life. This is their wish and we should respect them,”He.
Chinese gene-edited human creator says ‘we should respect them’ https://t.co/3Q5vdAmQPd
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) February 7, 2023
According to the scientist, he was in paternal love with three genetically modified girls. They were twins Lula (nana) and Nana (nana), who were born in 2018. Amy was followed in 2019.
“You will have high expectations of them, but you also have huge unease,”He stated.
His team from the Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen in China caused a stir when he was arrested. Annouced the first successful modification of babies’ DNA using the CRISPR gene editing system. The achievement made him extremely proud, as he knew his technique could make babies highly resistant to various diseases and genetic illnesses. Lulu, Nana and Nana were his first subjects. Genetically modifiedThey were able to fight the HIV virus that was passed on by their father.
The reaction of the international scientific community that denounced his research as unscientific took him a bit by surprise. Skeptical scientists challenged his methods and concluded that his work was unethical.
He was immediately accused by the Chinese government of unspecified offences. He was also criticised for not following government regulations and obtaining private funds for his work. Disappear. In December 2018, he had either been placed under house arrest, or was running a bed-and breakfast to accommodate Chinese security officers. SwarmingHis residence.
He was To be placed in prisonFor illegal medical procedures, fined $430,000 up to April 2022 Close observers of Chinese Communist Party considered this a light sentence. Not notedHe could have easily been charged with corruption, sent to prison or executed.
His appearance was in December 2022. An announcementHe had been invited by Oxford University for a talk on gene-editing technology and reproductive medicine. The SCMP, Next month, he will deliver his Oxford address.
He stated that he will continue to research and confirmed reports that he established a Beijing lab to test therapies for genetic disorders. Then he told the SCMP He plans to start a non profit called The Beijing Institute for Rare Disease Research in order to further his research. “long-term vision,”That is it “each of us should be free from inherited diseases,”He plans to publish an article about his experience for the international scientific community.
“The question is too complex and I do not yet have an answer,”When the SCMP asked him if he would have done it differently, he replied.
The Chinese scientific community is uncertain how to proceed with the three children from He’s experiments. According to He, the original intention was to buy lifelong insurance to protect the children’s medical expenses. However, no insurance company was willing to offer a policy. Then he told the SCMP He would like to start a charity foundation to help them with their medical issues.
Three children in China who underwent CRISPR gene editing as embryos may need more healthcare over their lifetimes, but they shouldn’t become a science project, say ethicists https://t.co/T3Y6Oixhuz
— New Scientist (@newscientist) July 4, 2022
Other Chinese scientists will be visiting China in June As an optionA center was established to provide care and research for children. While the children seem to be healthy, there are strong chances that genetic abnormalities will occur in the future.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/05/how-far-should-we-go-with-gene-editing-in-pursuit-of-the-perfect-human
The UK Guardian He Jiankui, despite not being invited to the event, was seen as a prominent figure on Sunday at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. He Jiankui revealedHis experimentation was presented to the entire world during the 2018 Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing held at University of Hong Kong.
“We will be discussing what has happened to the three children whose physiology He may have altered by genome editing,”Prof. Robin Lovell, summit organizer.
“Genome editing has enormous power to benefit people, but we should be transparent about how it is being tried and tested before the technology is put into practice,”Lovell-Badge stated that there are many applications, from the curing of otherwise incurable diseases to genetically altering astronauts in order to be more resilient to interplanetary travels.
“You could also contemplate altering humans so they could see in the infrared or the ultraviolet range, as some animals can do. Such enhancements would be ideal for troops fighting at night or in other hostile conditions,”According to the professor,
Lovell-Badge wasn’t enthusiastic about He Jiankui’s new Beijing lab.
“He says he is going to focus on gene therapy to treat diseases such as muscular dystrophy. And that scares me because he is not a biologist. He knows little about the disease,” Lovell-Badge said.
Check out the complete article here