CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER
The science and ethics of editing human DNA came to the fore in 2018, when it was revealed that two babies had been born after their embryos were modified by a process called CRISPR.
Prof. Henry T. Greely, director of the Stanford centre for law and biosciences, was drawn into an ethical debate that we all must consider. Greely asks and attempts to answer the question, “is it ethical to mess with human embryos?” In his new book, CRISPR People, Greely says, “things are about to get interesting. This is an experiment that feels like a cross between bad fiction and reckless fiasco, shrouded in a deep fog of secrets.”
The experiment in question took place in China by scientist He Jiankui, who attempted to edit CCR-5, a gene known to be important in providing a gateway for HIV to infect some human cells.
“The goal of the experiment was to make the gene inoperative and thus deprive HIV of that gateway for infection,” Greely says.
“The two edited embryos, of non-identical twin sisters, were transferred into their mother's uterus sometime in late March or early April 2018. Sometime in October, somewhere in China, they were born.”
On the surface a noble idea, but the reality of the experiment is nothing short of an attempt to win the Nobel Prize. The Chinese scientist is in prison in China after allegations that he forged documents giving him permission to conduct the experiment.
His imprisonment has frustrated many who want to know more about his experiment, which appears to have been an exercise in his own aggrandizement.
We invited Greely to join a Conversation That Matters about human gene editing.
See the video at vancouversun.com/tag/conversations-that-matter