He Jiankui

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Template:Chinese name

He Jiankui
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Xinhua County, Hunan, China
Alma materUniversity of Science and Technology of China (B.S., 2006)
Rice University (PhD, 2010)
Known forConducting the first genome-editing experiments on embryos that were implanted and brought to term
Scientific career
FieldsBiophysics
InstitutionsSouthern University of Science and Technology
Doctoral advisorMichael W. Deem
Other academic advisorsStephen Quake
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese贺建奎

He Jiankui (Chinese: 贺建奎; born 1984) is a Chinese biophysics researcher who is an associate professor in the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China.

He became widely known in November 2018 after he said that he had created the first human genetically edited babies, known by their pseudonyms, Lulu (Chinese: 露露) and Nana (Chinese: 娜娜).[1][2] The announcement was met with widespread condemnation, and on 29 November 2018, Chinese authorities suspended all He's research activities.[3]

Education and career

Born in Xinhua County, Loudi, Hunan in 1984,[2] He Jiankui was educated at the University of Science and Technology of China as an undergraduate student from 2002 to 2006.[2] He entered Rice University in 2007 and received his Ph.D degree in Biophysics under the supervision of Professor Michael W. Deem in 2010.[2] After his PhD, he worked as a postdoc fellow with Stephen Quake at Stanford University.[4] He moved back to China in 2012 under the Thousand Talents Program and opened a lab at the Southern University of Science and Technology.[4] As part of the program, he was given 1 million yuan ($144,000) in angel funding, which he used to start biotech and investment companies.[5][6] One of his startups is Direct Genomics, which is developing single-molecule sequencing devices based on patents invented by Quake that had been formerly been licensed by Helicos Biosciences.[5] He also founded Vienomics Biotech, which offers genome sequencing services for people with cancer.[6]

He took an unpaid leave from the university starting in February 2018, and began conducting the genome-editing clinical trial.[7][8][9] On 29 November 2018, Chinese authorities suspended all He's research activities, saying He's work was "extremely abominable in nature" and a violation of Chinese law.[3]

Research

In 2010, at Rice University, He and Michael W. Deem published a paper describing some details of the CRISPR protein; this paper was part of the early work on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, before it had been adopted as a gene editing tool.[4]

In 2017, He gave a presentation at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory describing work he did at Southern University of Science and Technology, in which he used CRISPR/Cas9 on mice, monkeys, and around 300 human embryos.[10]

Clinical trial

He speaking at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing

He's human gene-editing clinical trial was conducted without public discussion in the scientific community; it was first made public on November 25, 2018 when MIT Technology Review published a story about the work, based on documents that had been posted earlier that month on the Chinese clinical trials registry. After that story posted, He released a promotional video on YouTube and the next day the Associated Press published an interview with He.[10][8] He had engaged a public relations firm as well.[4] He eventually presented the work on November 27 at the International Human Genome Editing Summit.[1]

The trial had recruited couples who wanted to have children; in order to participate, the man had to be HIV-positive and the woman, uninfected.[8] The couples were recruited through a Beijing-based AIDS advocacy group called Baihualin.[8] As of 28 November, it was unclear whether the clinical trial had received appropriate ethical review from an institutional review board before it started, and it was unclear if the participants had given truly informed consent.[1][8]

He said that he took sperm and eggs from the couples, performed in vitro fertilization with them, and then edited the genomes of the embryos using CRISPR/Cas9.[8] The editing targeted a gene, CCR5, that codes for a protein that HIV uses to enter cells.[11][12] He was trying to create a specific mutation in the gene, (CCR5 Δ32), that few people naturally have — that possibly confers innate resistance to HIV,[11] as seen in the case of the Berlin Patient.[13] He said that the girls still carried functional copies of CCR5 along with disabled CCR5 given mosaicism inherent in the present state of the art in germ-line editing.[1] There are forms of HIV that use a different receptor instead of CCR5, and the work that He did could not protect resulting children from those forms of HIV.[11]

He said that he used a preimplantation genetic diagnosis process on the embryos that were edited, where three to five single cells were removed and the editing was checked. He said that parents were offered the choice of using edited or unedited embryos.[8]

Twin girls conceived as part of the clinical trial were born in late October or early November; He said that they appeared to be healthy.[1] When they were born, it was unclear if there might be long-term effects from the gene-editing; He was asked about his plans to monitor the children, and pay for their care should any problems arise, and how their confidentiality and that of their parents could remain protected.[1] The names of the children used in reports, "Lulu" and "Nana", and the names of their parents, "Mark" and "Grace", are pseudonyms.[14]

He also said at the meeting, that a second mother in his clinical trial was in the early stages of pregnancy.[1]

Reactions

Once the existence of the clinical trial was made public, He's conduct was widely condemned.[15][14][10][16]

Chinese scientists and institutions harshly criticized He; an article in Nature stated that concerns about He's conduct were "particularly acute in China, where scientists are sensitive to the country’s reputation as the Wild West of biomedical research".[16]

Geneticist Eric Topol stated, "This is far too premature .. We're dealing with the operating instructions of a human being. It's a big deal."[17] Nobel prize-winning biologist David Baltimore considered the work "irresponsible".[11] Developmental biologist Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute said, "If true...this would be a highly irresponsible, unethical and dangerous use of genome editing technology."[14] Medical ethicist Julian Savulescu of the University of Oxford noted, "If true, this experiment is monstrous."[14] Bioethicist Hank Greely of Stanford Law School declared, "I unequivocally condemn the experiment."[18] Biochemist Jennifer Doudna, of the University of California at Berkeley, a pioneer of the CRISPR–Cas9 technology, condemned the research.[16][19] George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University, said gene editing for HIV resistance was "justifiable" since HIV is "a major and growing public health threat", but questioned the decision of this project to allow one of the embryos to be used in a pregnancy attempt, since the use of that embryo suggests that the researchers’ "main emphasis was on testing editing rather than avoiding this disease".[18]

Arthur Caplan, bioethicist at the New York University School of Medicine, said that engineering human genes is inevitable and, although there are concerns of creating "designer babies", medical researchers are more interested in using the technology to prevent and treat diseases, much like the type of experiments performed by He.[20]

Carl Zimmer compared the reaction to He's human gene editing experiment to the initial reactions and subsequent debate over mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT), and the eventual regulatory approval of MRT in the United Kingdom.[21]

Investigations

The Southern University of Science and Technology stated that He had been on unpaid leave since February 2018, and his research was conducted outside of their campus; the university and He's department said they were unaware of the research project and said it was inviting international experts to form an independent committee to investigate the incident, and would release the results to the public.[9] Local authorities and the Chinese government also opened investigations.[3]

Michael W. Deem, his doctoral advisor at Rice University, was involved in the clinical trial, and was present when people involved in He's study gave consent.[8] Deem came under investigation by Rice after news of the work was made public.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Begley, Sharon (28 November 2018). "Amid uproar, Chinese scientist defends creating gene-edited babies". STAT News.
  2. ^ a b c d "复盘贺建奎的人生轨迹：是谁给了他勇气" (in Chinese). sina.com.cn. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Jiang, Steven; Regan, Helen; Berlinger, Joshua (29 November 2018). "China suspends scientists who claim to have produced first gene-edited babies". CNN News.
  4. ^ a b c d Joseph, Andrew; Robbins, Rebecca; Begley, Sharon (27 November 2018). "An outsider claimed genome-editing history; the world snapped to attention". STAT News.
  5. ^ a b Coleman, Zach (November 27, 2018). "The businesses behind the doctor who manipulated baby DNA". Nikkei Asian Review.
  6. ^ a b He, Laura; Zhang, Jane; Moon, Louise (29 November 2018). "Who are the investors supporting He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist behind the gene-edited babies?". South China Morning Post.
  7. ^ Cyranoski, David; Ledford, Heidi (26 November 2018). "Genome-edited baby claim provokes international outcry". Nature. 563 (7733): 607–608. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07545-0. PMID 30482929.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Marchione, Marilyn (26 November 2018). "Chinese researcher claims first gene-edited babies". AP NEWS.
  9. ^ a b "南科大：贺建奎2月已停薪留职 项目违背学术伦理". Sina. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2018-11-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ a b c Regalado, Antonio (November 25, 2018). "Chinese scientists are creating CRISPR babies". MIT Technology Review.
  11. ^ a b c d Belluck, Pam (28 November 2018). "Chinese Scientist Who Says He Edited Babies' Genes Defends His Work". The New York Times.
  12. ^ de Silva E, Stumpf MP (Dec 2004). "HIV and the CCR5-Delta32 resistance allele". FEMS Microbiology Letters. 241 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1016/j.femsle.2004.09.040. PMID 15556703.
  13. ^ "«Menschenversuche»: Geburt genmanipulierter Babys verkündet". Stern (in German). 26 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b c d Reuters (26 November 2018). "China Orders Investigation After Scientist Claims First Gene-Edited Babies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Begley, Sharon (26 November 2018). "Claim of CRISPR'd baby girls stuns genome editing summit". STAT News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ a b c Cyranoski, David (27 November 2018). "How the genome-edited babies revelation will affect research". Nature. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Eric Topol (27 November 2018). "Editing Babies? We Need to Learn a Lot More First". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ a b Farr, Cristina (26 November 2018). "Experiments to gene-edit babies are 'criminally reckless,' says Stanford bio-ethicist". CNBC. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Leuty, Ron (27 November 2018). "Why 2 key gene-editing voices in Berkeley condemn Chinese scientist's designer babies 'stunt'". San Fransico Business Times. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  20. ^ Almendrala, Anna (27 November 2018). "World's First Gene-Edited Babies Could Set Genetic Science Backward, Experts Worry". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Zimmer, Carl (1 December 2018). "Genetically Modified People Are Walking Among Us". The New York Times.
  22. ^ LaMotte, Sandee (27 November 2018). "Rice professor under investigation for role in 'world's first gene-edited babies'". CNN News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

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