A Chinese Scientist is under armed guard for creating Gene Edited Babies

As 2018 drew to a close, one scientist unveiled research that entered a new era of science. But it soon prompted extensive backlash from around the globe.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced in November that he had created the first gene-edited babies, twin girls whose DNA had been edited using the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to protect them from HIV.
Editing the DNA of human embryos had never been done before, for good reason, and the scientist went against the advice of experts in the field to conduct the work, which could lead to a multitude of unknown genetic complications for the children.
Everyone he talked to -- which was not many people -- had said "don't go there," "don't do it," explained Robin Lovell-Badge of the UK research facility the Francis Crick Institute, who organized the scientific summit in Hong Kong during which the news broke in November. "He had already been told not to proceed," he said.
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The announcement came on the eve of this summit, the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing. Two days later, He defended his work on the scientific stage and announced that a second pregnancy using the technology was underway.
Then He went into hiding, having received threats, explained Lovell-Badge, who provided new detail of the events Monday. His last contact with the Chinese scientist was on December 1.
Before the meeting, "it was clear that we was up to something," Lovell-Badge said, explaining that there had been rumors that He was seeking local ethical approval to edit the embryos. This was why He was invited to attend and speak at the conference: to get him around peers and calm his ambition.
"None of us knew how far he'd actually got," Lovell-Badge said, adding that experts knew only of his research on mice, monkeysand human embryos. "Clearly, we were too late."
However, the babies have not been independently confirmed, and the hospital named as approving the research has denied being associated with the scientist.
Lovell-Badge believes that He is in an apartment in Shenzhen, surrounded by guards, and said he isunclear whether the guards are there to restrict him or protect him.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/asse...xlarge-169.jpgHe Jiankui, center, with Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute, left, at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing.




Rich, egotistical and disrespectful of guidelines

He made a lot of money selling companies, Lovell-Badge said, which enabled him to fund the research himself, and therefore no funding body validated his work.
"He was very rich," he said, and "treated very well by the Chinese system," which encouraged his return to the country after he trained as a physicist in the United States.
Lovell-Badge summarized the scientist as a rich physicist who knew little biology, with a huge ego, someone who wants to be the first to do something he believes will change the world, irrespective of any guidelines.
He knew about guidelines not to implant a genetically altered embryo, "but he went ahead anyway" and was "doing it in secret, largely."
The scientist consistently believed that he was doing good, Lovell-Badge explained, but the science and his ethics were flawed.
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For example, He did not know enough about the mutation he was trying to introduce into the babies -- known as Delta 32 -- which was intended to protect the girls from HIV but could also increase the risk of West Nile virus and influenza, previous research had shown. He had told Lovell-Badge on stage at the conference that he was aware of the rise in risk of those two diseases but believed that the risk of West Nile virus not an issue in China and claiming that the influenza research had been flawed. However, a few days later, He asked Lovell-Badge for more information on the influenza link.
Lovell-Badge believes the babies' families were not informed of the influenza link when giving their consent to He, despite the virus being a huge risk in China. "It's quite possible he has put the children at risk," he said, adding to the unethical point that the scientist obtained consent himself, rather than through an impartial third party.
In addition, there are effective ways to prevent HIV from being passed from parents to children, meaning the controversial research did not even have an "unmet clinical need," Lovell-Badge said. But the stigma around HIV in China seemed to be what drove the Chinese scientist, he said.
'I'm pretty sure he's done it'

A big question looming over the series of events is whether these gene-edited babies truly exist, with no proof of their existence and no peer-reviewed research on He's work. It's simply his word.
His work on mice and monkeys had been presented at conferences, however, Lovell-Badge explained, and He had told the Summit about submitting a paper on the gene-edited babies for review to a reputable scientific journal. Where that paper is now remains a mystery, however.
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The flaws in his approach also make Lovell-Badge believe that the babies are real. "If he was going to make this up, he would have made it up much better than this," he said. "I'm pretty sure he's done it." The only real way to know is to test the DNA of the babies, which he believes Chinese authorities will ensure as part of their investigations.
In addition, He had a US PR person at his side, Ryan Ferrell, who advised him to create videos explaining his news to post on YouTube as well as to provide access to the Associated Press to follow his work, all for a big unveiling, probably in 2019.
But the order of play was interrupted by the MIT Technology Review, which caught wind of the work and reported on it, making the news global as the Hong Kong summit was due to begin, Lovell-Badge said. Chaos ensued. "He hadn't planned to hijack the meeting."
'There is a place' for gene editing

Lovell-Badge believes that He will be punished and locked up or fined as Chinese authorities conclude their investigation and that many people involved will lose their jobs. He also fears for the future of the babies, who may have their fate, and future reproduction, controlled.
As for the field as a whole, Lovell-Badge said, discussions began in 2015 on the need for a pathway for scientists to follow in order to show certain stages of research before finally editing embryos, with more need for this now than ever.






Clear laws need to be in place, he said, as many countries -- except the UK and the United States -- have guidelines but not clear outlines for laws and resulting punishments if such research is conducted, paving the way for a maverick scientist like He.
The Chinese hospital named in He's ethical approval documents, Shenzhen Harmonicare Women's and Children's Hospital, denies involvement in the procedures. "We can ensure that the research wasn't conducted in our hospital nor were the babies born here," a hospital representative told CNN earlier. Initial investigations by the hospital said that signatures on He's ethics review form are suspected to be forged.
But "properly done, there is a place for genome germline editing," Lovell-Badge believes, with the germline being the genes and cells passed down through generations. Editing could target diseases with a true clinical need, he said, such as cystic fibrosis or the blood disorder beta-thalassemia.
What there is no place for: scientists simply on a mission to be the first to do something. "He should certainly be stopped from doing anything like this again."

I feel like this story could be a hoax, but it doesn't matter really. If this guy didn't do it first someone else will.

i'm all for this, the world could use more brocks. though, there should be regulations set in place to weed out undersirables such as sha dynasty

I need this dude on my team, imagine an army of super shraps trolling every internet forum and subreddit in creation

I think you two are thinking somewhat unimaginatively about how this technology can be used.

Its a slippery slope, it starts with editing out hereditary conditions and adding disease resistance but it ends with Homo Sapiens being usurped by something unrecognizable.

And what kind of low expectation having parent would ask their doctor to "Make us a Brock please".

your posts are very boring. i think your hispter scarf may be too tight

Rewriting Life

China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced

New research suggests that a controversial gene-editing experiment to make children resistant to HIV may also have enhanced their ability to learn and form memories.

• by Antonio Regalado
• February 21, 2019

The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance cognition and memory, scientists say.
The twins, called Lulu and Nana, reportedly had their genes modified before birth by a Chinese scientific team using the new editing tool CRISPR. The goal was to make the girls immune to infection by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Now, new research shows that the same alteration introduced into the girls’ DNA, deletion of a gene called CCR5, not only makes mice smarter but also improves human brain recovery after stroke, and could be linked to greater success in school.
“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” says Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose lab uncovered a major new role for the CCR5 gene in memory and the brain’s ability to form new connections.
“The simplest interpretation is that those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins,” says Silva. He says the exact effect on the girls’ cognition is impossible to predict, and “that is why it should not be done.”
https://cdn.technologyreview.com/i/i...w=2999&ch=1999 He Jiankui poses for the cameras of the Associated Press in the days before his gene-editing experiments became known. Mark Schiefelbein | AP
The Chinese team, led by He Jiankui of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, claimed it used CRISPR to delete CCR5 from human embryos, some of which were later used to create pregnancies. HIV requires the CCR5 gene to enter human blood cells.
The experiment has been widely condemned as irresponsible, and He is under investigation in China. News of the first gene-edited babies also inflamed speculation about whether CRISPR technology could one day be used to create super-intelligent humans, perhaps as part of a biotechnology race between the US and China.
There is no evidence that He actually set out to modify the twins’ intelligence. MIT Technology Review contacted scientists studying the effects of CCR5 on cognition, and they say the Chinese scientist never reached out to them, as he did to others from whom he hoped to get scientific advice or support.
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“As far as I know, we never heard from him,” says Miou Zhou, a professor at the Western University of Health Sciences in California.
Although He never consulted the brain researchers, the Chinese scientist was certainly aware of the link between CCR5 and cognition. It was first shown in 2016 by Zhou and Silva, who found that removing the gene from mice significantly improved their memory. The team had looked at more than 140 different genetic alterations to find which made mice smarter.
Silva says because of his research, he sometimes interacts with figures in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who have, in his opinion, an unhealthy interest in designer babies with better brains. That’s why, when the birth of the twins became public on November 25, Silva says he immediately wondered if it had been an attempt at this kind of alteration. “I suddenly realized—Oh, holy shit, they are really serious about this bullshit,” says Silva. “My reaction was visceral repulsion and sadness.”
During a summit of gene editing scientists that occurred two days later in Hong Kong, He acknowledged he had known all along about the potential brain effects from the UCLA research. “I saw that paper, it needs more independent verification,” He replied when asked about it during a Q&A session (see video here). He added: “I am against using genome editing for enhancement.”
Whatever He’s true aims, evidence continues to build that CCR5 plays a major role in the brain. Today, for example, Silva and a large team from the US and Israel say they have new proof that CCR5 acts as a suppressor of memories and synaptic connections.
According to their new report, appearing in the journal Cell, people who naturally lack CCR5 recover more quickly from strokes. What’s more, people missing at least one copy of the gene seem to go further in school, suggesting a possible role in everyday intelligence.
“We are the first to report a function of CCR5 in the human brain, and the first to report a higher level of education,” says UCLA biologist S. Thomas Carmichael, who led the new study. He calls the link to educational success “tantalizing” but says it needs further study.
The discoveries about CCR5 are already being followed up in drug trials on both stroke patients and people with HIV, who sometimes suffer memory problems. In those studies, one of which is under way at UCLA, people are being given an anti-HIV drug, Maraviroc, which chemically blocks CCR5, to see if it improves their cognition.
Silva says there is a big difference between trying to correct deficits in such patients and trying to create enhancement. “Cognitive problems are one of the biggest unmet needs in medicine. We need drugs, but it’s another thing to take normal people and muck with the DNA or chemistry to improve them,” he says. “We simply don’t know enough to do it. Nature has struck a very fine balance.”
Just because we shouldn’t alter normal intelligence doesn’t mean we can’t. Silva says the genetic manipulations used to make “smart mice” show not only that it is possible, but that changing CCR5 has particularly big effects.
“Could it be conceivable that at one point in the future we could increase the average IQ of the population? I would not be a scientist if I said no. The work in mice demonstrates the answer may be yes,” he says. “But mice are not people. We simply don’t know what the consequences will be in mucking around. We are not ready for it yet.”

https://cdn.technologyreview.com/i/i...w=3200&ch=1804John Ueland



https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6...rains-altered/