the Chinese researcher told The Associated Press he helped create the world's first genetically edited babies they are twin girls whose DNA he claims to have altered when they were embryos I feel a strong responsibility that it's not just to make it first but also make it ice example dr. head young Quay says he modified embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments one resulted in the birth of the twins this month during IVF one sperm cell was inserted into an egg after fertilization a DNA editing technique called CRISPR Castine was used to disable a very specific
gene that allows v---aids virus HIV to infect white blood cells the goal was to render the baby's immune to HIV despite that the response to the announcement was near universal condemnation in cases where the potential risks are substantially higher than the benefits which I think is the case here that is not ethical I would say that no babies should be born at this point in time following the use of his technology well this kind of gene editing has been tried to treat serious adult diseases the DNA changes stay in that person sperm egg or embryo
gene editing make changes that can be passed on to all future generations and they're often so-called off-target effects where other genes are also altered there are also concerns it could lead to designer babies allowing parents to choose traits like hair and eye color or even intelligence and athletic ability now those last traits are determined by combinations of many many genes and that'll be much harder to manipulate meanwhile the universities where the researcher and his American collaborator had worked say they are currently on unpaid leave and are calling for an investigation but as often happens science
is racing for head yeah of our ethical ability to handle with all of its implications really opens up in tomorrow's box there's a lot going on here that we're gonna have to deal with
