Chinese Scientist makes the World First Genetically Modified Baby

How China made the first genetically modified baby

China have always been a pioneer in the world of genetics. The use of the CRISPR-Cas9 technique in one cell stage monkey embryos have been their primary driving technique for gene editing.

In November 2018, in a report that would shock the world, 2 twins girls were born with modified genes- making them immune to HIV. Their miraculous success, was from resulting “experiments” with couples conducted by scientist He Jiankui, where the father would be the main carrier of HIV infection.

It is unclear how the experimentation managed to get through China’s existing regulation regarding experimentation on humans, especially the 2003 “Ethical guiding principals for research embryonic stem cell” issued by Chinas ministry of science and technology.

Although the alleged objective seemed to point towards eliminating HIV, it is well known fact within the scientific community that CCR5 gene that had modified closely ties with major brain functions, therefore He Jiankui might have created an enhanced human with increased cognitive functions and a higher IQ.

This highly controversial study has sparked major debate over the use of CRISPR-Cas9, the most recent gene modification technique.

Up until very recently have we only been able to add genes to the gene pool, however advancements in gene engineering through the use of CRISPR-Cas9 has allowed us to delete, add or replace exisiting genes.

Although the experiment only involves single gene mutation, the fact is existing disorder are mostly multigenetic. However we cannot completely rule this technique out, as further research could allow this technique to deal with several genes , maybe even thousands in the future.

Thank you for reading and I’d love to hear your thoughts bellow!