Another woman is pregnant with a genetically modified child in China



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He Jiankui had caused controversy in the scientific community in November 2018 announcing the birth of twins with modified DNA to be immune to the AIDS virus. A new case of pregnancy is now known.

This type of genetic modification applied to human beings is prohibited in the great majority of countries. Pixabay

The Chinese authorities have confirmed this there is a second pregnant woman of a genetically modified child. This news comes after the experiments of the Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, who in November assured that he had created the first children with genome editing techniques. Now, he will have to face a police investigation. (Read: "Children on demand" in China provoke world debate)

The Xinhua news agency reported that an investigation by the Guangdong provincial government revealed that He Jiankui "product fake ethics evaluation documents, has gathered in private a research group that included foreign scientists and has used technologies whose safety and effectiveness is doubtful. "

Although He Jiankui during a forum in Hong Kong had said that he was a second pregnant person, only until this week could confirm the veracity of the news. Research indicates that the woman is still pregnant and it will be under medical observation, like the twins of the first pregnancy.

According to the research, the scientist used his money to complete the project and he counted that there were eight couples who volunteered. However, one of them decided to withdraw from the experiment. Authorities chave altered their experiments of serious ethical violation. The case of the geneticist, as reported by local media, will go to the Ministry of Public Security and, apparently, the criminal charges will be brought against him. (You can read: the scientist who made the first genetic edition in humans is under house arrest)

The controversy over this case began on November 25 last year, when the geneticist He Jiankui announced that there was created the first genetically modified children in historyIt concerns the twins Lulu and Nana. A statement that has caused a sensation in the world of science and that, even, several researchers have called crazy.

The Chinese government had requested the suspension of its scientific activities days after its study had been publicly announced, since this type of genetic modification applied to human beings is prohibited in the great majority of countries, including China. (You might be interested: the Chinese scientist who claims to have modified the DNA of two children puts his essays "on hold")

He Jiankui, who trained at Stanford University in the United States, said he used the CRISPR / Cas9 technique, known as the "scissors of the genome", which allows the removal and replacement of unwanted parts of the genome as if correcting a typo in a computer. .

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