China launches probe into claim of ‘genetically edited twins’

: China launched a probe into the claim by Shenzhen-based scientist He Jiankui of having created the world's first ‘genetically-edited’ twins, which has triggered disbelief and criticism among the scientific community.

The twins, Lulu and Nana, are resistant to HIV, state media reported citing the claims made by the scientist.

The National Health Commission (NHC), China's top health supervisory body, said on Monday it has directed local authorities to investigate the experiment and He's claims. NHC is paying close attention to reports about the experiment, it said in a statement, adding that information about the investigation should be made public in a timely manner.

The experiment was led by He, an associate professor of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUST)'s biology department. He claimed that his team had successfully altered the CCR5 gene of twins born earlier this month in China with a gene technology called CRISPR, also known as the “gene scalpel”.

The CCR5 gene is the main receptor in the human body for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The news trended on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, soon after it was published. Thousands of netizens weighed in on the debate about tinkering with human genes.

SUST said in a statement it is “deeply shocked” by He's experiment and believes the work “seriously violates academic ethics and norms.” A group of 122 leading scientists from China condemned “gene editing” in a statement on Weibo.

“Direct human experimentation can only be described as madness. The accuracy of the CRISPR gene editing technology and the off-target effects it brings are very controversial within the scientific community,” the scientists said.