Second CRISPR Edited Pregnancy Underway, 19 edited embryos await implantation, ethics wildly violated

Crystal structure of a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex, Cascade, bound to a ssDNA target. CRISPR system Cascade protein subunits CasA, CasB, CasC, CasD, and CasE (cyan) bound to CRISPR RNA (green) and viral DNA (red) based on PDB 4QYZ and rendered with PyMOL. img src: Wikipedia, credit: [boghog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Boghog]

At a talk at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing being held in Hong Kong, Dr He Jiankui revealed more of his attempts to genetically edit human embryos with the CRISPR technology. The reveal and the talk apparently caught the organizers of the conference off guard, since his submitted talk was rather different. All presentations and talks are reviewed and accepted before being made. This prevents off topic presentations and pseudoscience from creeping in.

In that presentation, Dr. He Jiankui unveiled he claimed to have successfully edited 21 embryos out of 30. There had been one successful pregnancy to date, the girl twins, Nana and Lulu. What was later revealed was there was also another pregnancy underway of a CRISPR edited baby. Very little information was available about this pregnancy. The remaining edited embryos are being held in storage. Their status is in limbo now.

The reason being the trial has been placed on hold. This is probably due to government intervention. Dr. He Jiankui broke numerous ethical guidelines and probably even broke Chinese law. Anyone who participated from the United States, definitely broke the law and will likely end up in jail. If Dr. He Jiankui broke Chinese law as it appears, he is likely to be in far, far deeper trouble than any American in the US.

One of the concerning aspects and almost assuredly illegal is the release form he had the patients sign. Nowhere on the form is there any disclosure Dr. He Jiankui was going to edit the embryo the patients were creating. There's no mention of genetic engineering whatsoever. Nor is there any information about the potential problems the children may have even if the gene editing was successfully accomplished with CRISPR: CRISPR does have off target edits. These can cause cancer and worse. Finally, the release form strongly implied the people who were signing might benefit financially from what they were doing. This is also wildly unethical.

The claimed point of this mad scientist stunt was to produce individuals with a very strong resistance to HIV. The father is apparently HIV positive. By using CRISPR, rare, but naturally occurring genes that offer resistance to HIV, if not immunity, can added. This prevents the mother from getting HIV as well as the children. There are other methods to prevent passing on HIV through in vitro fertilization that are far better tested and far, far less ethically lacking.

This stunt, whether real or not, is likely to end up setting back using CRISPR for medical purposes. In the late 90s, a young man, Jesse Gelsinger, died as a result of gene therapy. This set back the field for well over a decade, if not more, due to the unethical behavior of the scientists involved in the US. CRISPR may be facing the same fate.

A Chinese Researcher Claims to Produced Genetically Modified Babies, Twin Girls
https://steemit.com/science/@anzha/a-chinese-researcher-claims-to-produced-genetically-modified-babies-twin-girls

ROGUE SCIENTIST SAYS ANOTHER CRISPR PREGNANCY IS UNDER WAY
https://www.wired.com/story/he-jiankui-gene-editing-crispr-second-pregnancy/

CRISPR
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR

Jesse Gelsinger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Gelsinger