The doctor who modified the genetics of babies returns to the scene

Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who gained worldwide fame in 2018 after claiming to have succeeded in creating genetically modified babies that would resist HIV, recently said he would conduct gene-editing research in Hong Kong using artificial intelligence.

A controversial investigator said he got a visa through a local talent show despite a criminal record, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post writes today.

Via the social network Wechat, he said that he plans to investigate in the financial center of Fr “gene therapies for rare diseases”, Take the Hong Kong newspaper.

“We plan to use artificial intelligence tools to develop adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids to improve the efficacy of gene therapy in rare diseases,” he explained, without elaborating.

According to the Hong Kong newspaper The Standard, Labor Minister Chris Sun Yuk-han said at a press conference today when asked about the case that “Candidates for this talent show do not have to report their criminal record.”

The secretary declined to comment on “individual cases”, adding that the Immigration Department ultimately decides on visas to enter Hong Kong.

He gained world fame at the end of 2018 after declaring that he managed to create genetically manipulated babies to resist HIV, after which he was sentenced to three years in prison, although the authorities later released him, according to various media. last year.

He, a professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen until his dismissal in January 2019, was sentenced to 3 years in prison in December of that year for his experiment.

From He’s experiment, conducted using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique, three babies were born: twins Lulu and Nana in 2018, and another one named Amy the following year.

In his last public appearance, at a conference at the University of Hong Kong in November 2018, the scientist was “proud” of his work, stressing that his study was not aimed at eliminating genetic diseases, but “giving girls a natural ability” to resist possible future HIV infections.

The scandal brought Chinese authorities are revising their regulations regarding genetic modification in humanswhich now require approval at the national level for clinical research in the field or in other “high-risk biomedical technologies”.

In addition, the Chinese government has released new guidelines for reform ethical review processes in areas such as life sciences, medicine or artificial intelligence.