BI215-A: Principles of Genetics

In November, 2018, the world was in shock at the unexpected news that a Chinese researcher had “created” HIV-resistant twin baby girls using the CRISPR-Cas 9 genome editing technique. In a move that was made public just a day before an international summit on gene editing, Chinese researcher, He Jankui, told reporters that he had used the CRISPR-Cas 9 genome editing technique to delete the CCR5 receptor from the T cells (white blood cells) of in-vitro twins born earlier that month. The receptor deletion was an attempt to prevent the genome-edited individuals from contracting HIV-1 later in life, since the CCR5 chemokine receptor is the co-receptor that HIV-1 uses to gain entry into and infect immune cells.

Bioethicists, scientists and government officials were appalled at the announcement. Investigations are underway and Jankui will likely incur many academic and Chinese government ethics violations due to the completion of this study. It was pointed out that there are many other ways to easily protect oneself from HIV infection, and gene-editing is unjustified. This technology is still new and unknown off-target mutations could develop as a result. The lives of two otherwise healthy individuals may be jeopardized for no justified reason.

Unethical scientific experimentation is not a new idea. In the past, multiple unethical scientific violations have occurred. If you are not familiar with the following, please Google a few for a basic overview of the facts: Henrietta Lacks, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Project 4.1, wartime atrocities by Nazi doctors, and the Willowbrook hepatitis study.

After reading the two articles included below, please answer the following questions.

Why do you think this researcher (Jankui) went through with this experiment even though he likely knew that it was unethical? In your opinion, what should be done about this situation? Compare this ethics violation with what you have read about in past violations. What makes this one different/ the same? What effect might this have on public opinion of medicine and science? Give an example.

Due: 4/19/2020

Li, J. (2019). Experiments that led to the first gene-edited babies: the ethical failings and the urgent need for better governance. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B. 20(1): 32-38. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6331330

Normile, D. (2018). CRISPR bombshell: Chinese researcher claims to have created gene-edited twins. Science mag. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/crispr-bombshell-chinese-researcher-claims-have-created-gene-edited-twins