'CRISPR Babies:' Chinese Researchers Want a Facility for Gene-Edited Children

Chinese scientists suggested building a hospital facility to care for just three children - Amy and the twin sisters Lulu and Nana - the first genetically modified humans in history.

It is worth noting that these names only serve as pseudonyms to protect the kids. Scientist He Jiankui was responsible for modifying the embryos' genomes with the CRISPR technology to stop them from inheriting HIV from their dads.

Nature reported in February that two well-known bioethicists in China are urging the establishment of a research facility tasked with safeguarding the very first kids born with a modified genome.

Although scientists have well received the suggestion, many are worried that the proposed strategy would result in excessive surveillance of the CRISPR children.

The two scientists are Qiu Renzong from the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing and Lei Ruipeng from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.

They suggest that He, including the Southern University of Science and Technology and the government, should shoulder the main financial, legal, and other responsibilities for the children's health and welfare.

What Happened In the Experiment?

He was optimistic that he had made a scientific breakthrough with his experiment. However, after announcing his project in 2018, the public did not receive him well.

He claimed that he genetically engineered IVF embryos, placed them in a woman's womb, and caused the birth of twin girls, and the following year the third CRISPR baby was born.

He was brought under home arrest and later imprisoned as a result of the experiment's widespread condemnation. A Chinese court found the researcher guilty in December 2019 and declared that he had "deliberately" broken medical laws and "rashly applied gene editing technology to human assisted reproductive medicine," according to a report by MIT Technology Review.

Additionally, China's Xinhua news agency reported that the Chinese court ruled that he and his team "crossed the bottom line of ethics in scientific research.".

In April, Jiankui was reported to have been released from prison.

The Project's Revelation

The children's DNA was modified by the scientists from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen using CRISPR, a flexible genetic engineering technology, to make them immune to HIV infection.

In November 2018, during a global genome-editing symposium in Hong Kong, MIT Technology Review learned of the presence of the CRISPR baby experiment. He promptly uploaded multiple videos on YouTube revealing the birth of the fraternal twins, whom he called Lula and Nana.

The experiment received harsh condemnation both outside and inside China. According to MIT's report, scientists noted that genome editing had little medicinal value and might have brought abnormalities into the girls' genomes.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla