More than 100 scientists, most of them in China, have condemned as “crazy” and unethical altering human genes after a geneticist claimed he had changed the genes of twin girls to create the first gene-edited babies.
In an open letter circulating online, the scientists said the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to edit the genes of human embryos was risky, unjustified and harmed the reputation and development of the biomedical community in China.
In videos posted online, scientist He Jiankui defended what he claimed to have achieved, saying he had performed the embryonic gene editing to help protect the babies born this month from infection with HIV, the virus that causes Aids.
“The biomedical ethics review for this so-called research exists in name only. Conducting direct human experiments can only be described as crazy,” the scientists said in their letter, a copy of which was posted by the Chinese news website the Paper.
