Work on gene-edited babies violated law – China
Congo’s deadly Ebola outbreak is now the second largest in history, behind the devastating West Africa outbreak that killed thousands a few years ago, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.
WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr Peter Salama, called it a ‘‘sad toll’’ as Congo’s health ministry announced the number of cases has reached 426. That includes 379 confirmed cases and 47 probable ones. So far this outbreak, declared on August 1, has 198 confirmed deaths, with another 47 probable ones, Congo’s health ministry said.
Attacks by rebel groups and open hostility by some wary locals have posed serious challenges to health workers that Ebola experts say they’ve never seen before. Many venture out on critical virus containment missions only accompanied by UN peacekeepers in areas where gunfire echoes daily.
Salama this month predicted that the outbreak in northeastern Congo will last at least another six months before it can be contained. West Africa’s Ebola outbreak killed more than 11,000 people from 2014 to 2016.
Day by day, reports by health organisations note one new difficulty after another in this latest outbreak, even as their work sets milestones that have given new hope in the fight against one of the world’s most notorious diseases.
More than 37,000 people have received Ebola vaccinations, and Congo has begun the first-ever trial to test the effectiveness and safety of four experimental Ebola drugs. And yet the risk of Ebola spreading in socalled ‘‘red zones’’ – areas that are virtually inaccessible because of the threat of rebel groups – is a major concern in containing this outbreak.
‘‘This tragic milestone clearly demonstrates the complexity and severity of the outbreak. While the numbers are far from those from West Africa in 2014, we’re witnessing how the dynamics of conflict pose a different kind of threat,’’ said Michelle Gayer, senior director of emergency health at the International Rescue Committee.
In a major concern for health workers, many new cases have been unconnected to known infections as the insecurity complicates efforts to track contacts of those with the disease.
The alarmingly high number of infected newborns in this outbreak is another concern, and so far a mystery.
In a separate statement yesterday, WHO said so far 36 Ebola cases have been reported among newborn babies and children under 2.
As the need for help in containing the outbreak grows, two of the world’s most prominent medical journals this week published statements by global health experts urging the Trump administration to do more.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association, one group noted that the US government weeks ago ordered all Centres for Disease Control and Prevention personnel – ‘‘some of the world’s most experienced outbreak experts’’ – from Congo’s outbreak zone because of security concerns.
A separate statement published in the New England Journal of Medicine said: ‘‘Given the worsening of the outbreak, we believe it’s essential that these security concerns be addressed and that CDC staff return to the field.’’
This is the first time this turbulent part of northeastern Congo has had an Ebola outbreak. Congo’s health ministry has carried vivid accounts of residents, spurred by rumours, who have been trying to stop safe burial practices that halt the spread of Ebola from victims to relatives and friends.
Yesterday, the ministry said a group of youths broke into a morgue, stole the body of an Ebola victim and returned it to their family. –AP A Chinese government official has declared that the controversial research of scientist He Jiankui – who said that he created the world’s first gene-edited babies – was a violation of Chinese law, and has called for all related work to be halted.
‘‘The genetically edited infant incident reported by media blatantly violated China’s relevant laws and regulations,’’ Xu Nanping, a vice-minister for science and technology, told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV yesterday.
‘‘It has also violated the ethical bottom line that the academic community adheres to. It is shocking and unacceptable.’’
Earlier this week, national and local authorities said investigations had been launched into He’s work and conduct after videos and interviews from him and his laboratory were published on YouTube, and by two prominent Western media outlets.
The shocking claims have yet to be independently verified by experts and published in a journal, though if true, would represent a monumental leap in biomedical research.
He spoke on Thursday in Hong Kong, defending his work at a global industry summit and describing years of secret, self-funded research. He also revealed that a second woman was potentially pregnant as a result of his work, though he had suspended further work given the international outcry at the disclosure of his research.
So far, he has claimed to have produced two gene-edited baby girls, dubbed ‘‘Lulu’’ and ‘‘Nana’’, whose DNA was altered to be more resistant to HIV.
All couples he recruited for this study had a HIV-positive father and a non-infected mother. Using a method called Crispr-Cas9, He was able to target blocks of DNA with precision.
While the technology to change DNA has existed for decades, it has improved in recent years, allowing scientists to make targeted changes. Still, that practice is surrounded by ethical debate and questions on safety.
It is governed by laws in some countries; in the UK, it is illegal to edit the genes of human embryos over 14 days old. In China, where scientists have forged ahead with astonishing speed, regulations are still catching up.
Globally speaking, the field is so new and cutting edge that experts cannot calculate the risk involved for a gene-edited embryo as it develops into adulthood, and how changed DNA might pass into future generations.
In the future, such technology could be used to eradicate inherited illnesses, but it could also pave the way for ‘‘designer babies’’ engineered to have certain traits, such as a particular hair colour or intelligence.
Chinese scientists were quick to denounce He’s work, as was his institution, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. – Telegraph Group