Premature Designer Babies

Last week news that a Chinese scientist created first genetically engineered human babies shocked many in the scientific community. A scientist from Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen announced that twin girls were born with a mutation in a gene called CCR5, that prevented them from getting HIV infection.

This report is not peer-reviewed, therefore the validity of the claim is not yet confirmed. If it is true, I would say that it is a premature attempt to claim fame, at the cost of the lives of two girls. Few cells from the embryo at the 5 cell stage were tested to confirm genome editing and lack of potential off targets. However, off-target is an issue in CRISPR mediated gene editing. For lab experimental purpose, it might not matter a lot. There are several studies showing minimally present off target editing as a result of Cas9. But the fact of the matter is that it is a tool that still needs refinement. Off-target mutations at non-coding regions on the phenotype are not well characterized.

The argument that, the editing was conducted to push the field forward to set examples for great use of genome editing in human society also is questionable. CCR5 co-receptor facilitates the HIV entry into the CD4 cells, which eventually get destroyed. CCR5-delta 32, is a well-known mutation in CCR5 that provides resistance to HIV. This mutation is present in very low number in eastern Europeans. There are interesting theories on the spread of this mutation in the European population. However, this mutation might increase the risk to other diseases such as West Nile Virus. So this project was not purely based on the good intention of helping few AIDS patient to have kids. There is a selfish motivation to be the first also here, at the cost of human lives.

Competitiveness is very beneficial for science. It accelerated the discovery of DNA structure, completion of human genome sequencing effort, for e.g. But, all those were efforts that do not take lives into the life of experimenter. If, I knew that I can have a mutation that would make me super intelligent, but could make me get killed by common cold plus a number of possible mutation with unknown impact, would I take chance? I personally would not. So, the bottom line is that these are areas that require intense research. The motivation to make a human race resistant to a virus is commendable, and clearly is an area where genome editing has a justifiable application. But these research should be conducted with the utmost care and caution. I am not convinced that the value of the life of twin girls and the genuine helpful intention to the parents were the driving force of this attempt. This is an area where scientists should practice more restraint and ethical values. I earnestly hope those babies would grow up healthy and well.