Scientist’s ‘unease’ over gene-edited babies

Rogue Chinese scientist jailed for creating the world’s first genetically edited babies describes his ‘huge unease’ over their future.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui ws jailed for gene editing on Chinese twins. Picture: AFP.

A rogue Chinese scientist who was jailed for creating the world’s first genetically edited babies has described his “huge unease” over the future of the children, now aged about four.

He Jiankui, 39, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 after an international outcry when it emerged that he had altered the genes of twin girls, known as Lulu and Nana, at the embryonic stage with a technique called Crispr in an attempt to make them immune to HIV infection.

A third genetically altered baby, Amy, was born the following year, also in China. Crispr enables scientists to edit DNA far more easily and some researchers believe it will revolutionise the prevention and treatment of diseases and conditions, including cancer.

“They have a normal, peaceful and undisturbed life,” the scientist told the South China Morning Post. “We should respect them.” He said the children, now about four years old, were living happily with their parents.

Asked by the South China Morning Post if he was worried about their future added: “You will have high expectations of them, but you also have huge unease.”

He was released from prison in April last year and in November launched his own laboratory in Beijing, predicting an approaching “golden decade for gene therapies”.

His pioneering feat earned acclaim in some quarters, but was widely condemned by the medical establishment and later his own government. Part of the backlash stemmed from the implications of manipulating human genes that could potentially be inherited and passed down through future generations, raising dystopian fears of re-engineering the human race.

He said his team hoped to set up a charitable foundation to raise money and cover health-related expenses for the three children. He has been invited to visit the University of Oxford next month to discuss his methods.

“I have a long-term vision, which is that each of us should be free from inherited diseases,” he said.

Writing on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, in December, he thanked Eben Kirksey, a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, for inviting him to give the talk. Last month Kirksey told El Pais, the Spanish newspaper: “Some eminent bioethicists think that He should not be allowed to publish his research. I don’t agree. There is a lot to learn from his ethical mistakes and his scientific research for applying Crispr in reproductive medicine.”

He has pledged to develop affordable gene therapies. “In Europe and America, it is businesses that offer gene therapy treatments and the prices are in the tens of millions as they seek high returns. Many families are faced with bankruptcy to access the medicine,” he wrote, adding that not-for-profit institutions would make and distribute the treatments developed by his lab.

“That’s because my science will not only benefit the Chinese people but also the British people,” he wrote on his social media account. Asked about his bold experiment, he said: “I did it too quickly.” Asked if he would have done it differently, he said: “The question is too complex and I do not yet have an answer.”

The Times