Gene Modifying Babies

 

JULIET ALEMAN Staff Writer

 

In late November 2018 two twin female babies, known as Lulu and Nana to protect their identities, were born in China. Their births have spiked immense controversy because they are the first ever humans to be born with artificial gene modifications. Chinese scientist He JianKui was the mastermind behind it, saying the only modifications he made were to make the girls immune to contracting HIV/AIDs.

In China, human gene modification is illegal. The trial was conducted in secret and no paper has yet been presented for the scrutiny of peers in the genetic sequencing and editing space. The obvious question of whether or not this an ethical medical experiment thus arises. Because this is the first experiment on human embryos, the risk factors could consist of inaccuracy, affected future generations and stigmatized disabilities. However, many people argue that this experiment opens a door to advancing medical research for deadly diseases.

“This is far too premature,” Dr. Eric Topol from the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California said. “We’re dealing with the operating instructions of a human being. It’s a big deal.”

The reason why people view this as unethical because the babies’ genome was edited when it did not have to be. Since the mother does not have HIV/ AIDs, there is no immediate risk that the babies would get contract the virus. Nevertheless, the question of whether or not genetic modification should be allowed on human embryos will continue.