Work on gene-edited babies sparks ethical questions

HONG KONG >> Early last year, a little-known Chinese researcher turned up at an elite meeting in Berkeley, where scientists and ethicists were discussing a technology that had shaken the field to its core — an emerging tool for “editing” genes, the strings of DNA that form the blueprint of life.

The young scientist, He Jiankui, saw the power of this tool, called CRISPR, to transform not only genes, but also his own career.

In visits to the United States, he sought out CRISPR pioneers such as Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University’s Dr. Matthew Porteus, and big thinkers on its use, like Stanford ethicist Dr. William Hurlbut.

Last week, those shocked researchers watched as He hijacked an international conference they helped organize with an astonishing claim: He said he helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies , despite clear scientific consensus that making genetic changes that could be passed to future generations should not be attempted at this point .

U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins called He’s experiment “a misadventure of a major sort” — starring “a scientist who apparently believed that he was a hero. In fact, he crossed every line, scientifically and ethically.”

But nobody stopped him. How can that be?

To be fair, scientists say there’s no certain way to stop someone intent on monkeying with DNA, no matter what laws or standards are in place.

CRISPR is cheap and easy to use — which is why scientists began to worry almost as soon as the technology was invented that something like this would happen.

It turns out He wasn’t exactly tight-lipped about his goals. He pursued international experts at Stanford and Rice Universities, where he had done graduate studies work, and elsewhere, seeking advice before and during the experiment.

Should scientists who knew of He’s plans have spoken up? Could they have dissuaded him?

The answers aren’t clear.

“It doesn’t fall into the category of legal responsibility, but ethical responsibility,” said Collins. He said that not speaking up “doesn’t seem like a scientist taking responsibility.”