© Associated PressHONG KONG — China’s government ordered a halt Thursday to work by a medical team that claimed to have helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies, as a group of leading scientists declared that it’s still too soon to try to make permanent changes to DNA that can be inherited by future generations. Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping told state broadcaster CCTV that his ministry is strongly opposed to the efforts that reportedly produced twin girls born earlier this month. Xu called the team’s actions illegal and unacceptable and said an investigation had been ordered but made no mention of specific actions taken.  (I believe this is all for show.  This man did not work alone.  He was getting input from US Scientists, as he states in his video, as well as Chinese Scientists, he was funded, the government was fully aware of his work and the results. I am not buying the outrage.  I call BS!)Researcher He Jiankui claims to have altered the DNA of the twins to try to make them resistant to infection with the AIDS virus. Mainstream scientists have condemned the experiment, and universities and government groups are investigating.

His experiment “crossed the line of morality and ethics adhered to by the academic community and was shocking and unacceptable,” Xu said.  (WHAT??  What morality and ethics?? Seriously, do they think that we are stupid?)

A group of leading scientists gathered in Hong Kong this week for an international conference on gene editing, the ability to rewrite the code of life to try to correct or prevent diseases.  (Do not kid yourself, they don’t care about preventing or correcting diseases.  They prefer to create them. If you research for yourself, you will find that they have created more diseases than cured.  They are in it for the money… They are looking for every possible way to benefit financially from this technology.   

follow the money

Click on link to Watch: Gene-editing stocks climb after claims by Chinese researcher (Bloomberg)

Although the science holds promise for helping people already born and studies testing that are underway, a statement issued Thursday by the 14-member conference leaders says it’s irresponsible to try it on eggs, sperm or embryos except in lab research because not enough is known yet about its risks or safety.

The conference was rocked by the Chinese researcher’s claim to have helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies. Conference leaders called for an independent investigation of the claim by He, who spoke to the group Wednesday as international criticism of his claim mounted.

There is no independent confirmation of what He says he did. He was scheduled to speak again at the conference on Thursday, but he left Hong Kong and through a spokesman sent a statement saying “I will remain in China, my home country, and cooperate fully with all inquiries about my work. My raw data will be made available for third-party review.”

Several prominent scientists said the case showed a failure of the field to police itself and the need for stricter principles or regulations.  (Just more ways for the elite to CONTROL who gets the money! Regulations will do nothing to protect the masses/absolutely nothing!)

“It’s not unreasonable to expect the scientific community” to follow guidelines, said David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate from California Institute of Technology who led the panel.   

There already are some rules that should have prevented what He says he did, said Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin lawyer and bioethicist and a conference organizer.

“I think the failure was his, not the scientific community,” Charo said.  (I say BS!)

Gene editing for reproductive purposes might be considered in the future “but only when there is compelling medical need,” with clear understanding of risks and benefits, and certain other conditions, said Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, one of the conference sponsors.

Watch:‘Proud’ Chinese geneticist says another baby-gene editing volunteer pregnant  (Reuters)

https://youtu.be/gvwddkwPCKU

“Not following these guidelines would be an irresponsible act,” he added.

Other sponsors of the three-day conference are the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and U.S. National Academy Sciences.

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

‘Proud’ Chinese Geneticist Says Another Baby-Gene Editing Volunteer Is Pregnant’

Click to Watch: 2nd gene-edited pregnancy in early stage, Chinese scientist says
He Jiankui is now facing ethical questions over his alteration of the embryonic genes of twin girls born earlier this month to help protect them from HIV.

He Jiankui, an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, addressed a packed hall of around 700 people attending the Human Genome Editing Summit at the University of Hong Kong. (Ok, wait a minute… So, they already have a Human Genome Editing Summit?  And they want us to believe they are not already editing human genomes?  What?  The first summit was in 2015, the year before the Chinese modified a human embryo? And they state they have made so many advances since then?)

“For this case, I feel proud. I feel proudest,” He said, when challenged by several peers at the conference.

“This study has been submitted to a scientific journal for review,” He said. He did not name the journal and said his university was unaware of his study.

He, who said his work was self-funded, shrugged off concerns that the research was conducted in secrecy, explaining that he had engaged the scientific community over the past three years.

In videos posted online this week, He said he used a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born this month.

He said gene editing would help protect the girls from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

But scientists and the Chinese government have denounced the work that He said he carried out, and a hospital linked to his research suggested its ethical approval had been forged.

The conference moderator, Robin Lovell-Badge, said the summit organizers were unaware of the story until it broke this week.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a technology that allows scientists to essentially cut and paste DNA, raising hope of genetic fixes for disease. However, there are concerns about safety and ethics.

The Chinese Society for Cell Biology in a statement on Tuesday strongly condemned any application of gene editing on human embryos for reproductive purposes and said that it was against the law and medical ethics of China.

More than 100 scientists, most in China, said in an open letter on Tuesday the use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to edit the genes of human embryos was dangerous and unjustified. “Pandora’s box has been opened,” they said.

He’s research focuses on genome sequencing technology, bioinformatics, and genome editing, according to his biography on the summit’s website.

He received his PhD at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in Stephen Quake lab at Stanford University according to the site.

He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, center, speaks during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Nov. 28,

ASSOCIATED PRESS
He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, center, speaks during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. He made his first public comments about his claim to have helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies. 

CONTINUED STUDY

He, who said he was against gene enhancement, said eight couples were initially enrolled for his study while one dropped out. The criteria required the father to be HIV positive and the mother to be HIV negative.

David Baltimore, President Emeritus; Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology, spoke after He’s speech, saying it was irresponsible to have proceeded until safety issues were in order.

“I don’t think it has been a transparent process. Only found out about it after it happened and the children were born,” he said.

He Jiankui said his results could be used for millions with inherent diseases. He said he would monitor the two newborns for the next 18 years and hoped they would support continued monitoring thereafter.

Shenzhen Harmonicare Medical Holdings Limited (1509.HK), reported by media as being involved in He’s project, sought to distance itself by stating the hospital never participated in any operations relating to the gene-edited babies and no related delivery had taken place.

In a statement published to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday, the group said preliminary investigations indicated the signatures on the application form circulated on the internet are “suspected to have been forged, and no relevant meeting of the Medical Ethics Committee of the hospital, in fact, took place.”

YES, well everyone is “distancing themselves” after the fact, due to the negative press.  That is the oldest trick in the book… If you are caught… DENY, DENY, DENY!   

Scientists jointly Condemned He Jiankuls’ Gene Immunization Baby

The following excerpts were taken from this article by Rob Stein

the summit rejected calls for a blanket moratorium on such research, saying that the work could eventually lead to new ways to prevent a long list of serious genetic diseases.

“Making changes in the DNA of embryos could allow parents carrying disease-causing mutation have healthy genetically related children,” said David Baltimore, a Nobel-prize winning U.S. biologist who chaired the summit.

He, of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, claims he modified the embryos of the twins with the gene-editing technique CRISPR so that they would be immune to the AIDS virus. His claims remain unproven.

Nevertheless, hundreds of scientists from dozens of countries were engrossed by his claims as they gathered for the three-day summit, which was organized by the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, the Royal Society of London, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

In the summit’s closing statement released early Thursday, the organizers called for an investigation to verify or refute He’s claims. But regardless of whether it is true, the organizers said the researcher’s experiment was premature, deeply flawed and unethical.

But enough scientific advances have been made since the last summit in 2015 to begin plotting a course for how that could happen someday, according to the statement.

Progress over the last three years and the discussions at the current summit, … suggest that it is time to define a rigorous, responsible … pathway toward such trials,” said Baltimore, a Nobel-prize winning U.S. biologist.

In doing this, the organizers rejected calls for a moratorium on such research.

Baltimore said “draconian bans would be antithetical to the goals of science,” and unnecessarily hinder the advancement of science.  (That is: David Baltimore, a Nobel-prize winning U.S. biologist who chaired the summit.)

But many scientists have now become convinced that it may be ethical someday to edit human embryos to prevent genetic disorders, such as Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and hemophilia. And several scientists have already edited human embryos in their labs to try to determine the safety and effectiveness of the procedure.

Rather than focusing on criticizing what has happened, we should learn the lessons that it has taught us,” Feng wrote in an email. “There is a lot of potential for using gene editing to alleviate disease suffering, and providing a productive path forward is the best way to ensure that patient’s hopes will get realized.”

In their closing statement, the summit organizers “all but said outright that nothing will get in their way: not laws in dozens of countries or an international treaty, not widespread public and civil society opposition, not deep concern among their own scientific community, and not a grandstanding researcher,”CGS said in a statement.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.  THE BOTTOM LINE… NOTHING WILL STOP SCIENTISTS FROM PURSUING THEIR GOALS. WHETHER THEY ARE PERCEIVED TO BE MORAL OR ETHICAL.  WHETHER THERE ARE LAWS AGAINST THEM OR REGULATIONS TO HINDER THEM.  THEY WILL DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO! 

Designer Babies – Better All the Time   Dec 13, 2018

Playing God with OUR Genes    Dec 16, 2019

IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY VIEWED THE OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES ON CRISPR,   I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THEM IN ORDER TO GET THE BIGGER PICTURE.

JUST CLICK ON THE LINKS PROVIDED HERE: .
CRISPR GENETIC MANIPULATION THE SPRINGBOARD

CRISPR THE DESTROYER

CRISPR THE ULTIMATE END

CRISPR UNLEASHED