Scientists line up to take aim at research behind Chinese biologist He Jiankui’s gene-edited babies
- Nobel laureate and leading American biologist David Baltimore says the work to make babies HIV immune was not medically necessary
- American biochemist David Liu, a co-inventor of the gene-editing technology used in the experiment said the children were at no risk of developing HIV anyway
Scientists lined up to criticise Chinese biologist He Jiankui on Wednesday as he sought to defend his work on what he says are the world’s first genetically edited babies.
He claimed earlier this week that twin girls had been born in China this month from two embryos he and a team of researchers had altered to protect them against HIV.
At the Second International on Human Genome Editing the University of Hong Kong, Nobel laureate and biologist David Baltimore said he did not think the work was medically necessary.
“The choice of diseases we heard earlier today are much more pressing than providing to one person some protection against HIV infection,” Baltimore, chairman of the summit’s organising committee, said.
Baltimore also asked whether He consulted his peers in bioengineering and immunology.
“I think there has been a failure of self-regulation by the scientific community because of the lack of transparency,” Baltimore said.
