Controversy over genetic modification and immunity to the AIDS virus
Is genetic modification ethical? What was the controversy surrounding He Jianjui's research on this subject?
At the Second International Summit on the Human Genome held in Hong Kong, the Chinese scientist He Jianjui announced to the world the birth of two genetically modified twin girls to be able to be immune to the AIDS virus.
The researcher conducted an experiment with healthy human embryos, which he then implanted to introduce genetic enhancement. The problem was that this technique was still in development and, furthermore, lacked the knowledge of the university where he worked, his country's government, and the international scientific community. Of course, nor did it go through an ethics committee.
This situation sparked a great deal of criticism and led Chinese authorities to investigate the development of the experiment. He disappeared, and at the time of writing this article, without making any other statement.
Precedents to He Jianjui's discovery
A few years earlier, the Spanish researcher Francis Mójica discovered the CRISP/Cas9 system, a defense system of some bacteria to protect yourself from viruses.
The discovery was a very important advance in DNA manipulation. It works like molecular scissors, capable of cutting a specific area of the genome, and then repairing the cut area using a DNA template provided by the system. This could be done in a simple, rapid, and precise manner, allowing disease-causing mutations to be repaired, genes to be disabled (in the case of the twins, it is an HIV receptor), the expression of certain genes to be increased or decreased, and so on.
A priori looks very promisingIn fact, multiple trials are underway with some of the endless possibilities this technique offers. However, until now, they have only been used in vitro in animal cells and in human embryos donated to science, which have subsequently been destroyed.
The technique can be used on somatic cells (from any part of the body) of sick people. However, it has been shown that not all cells are repaired. This would result in the individual having two genetically different cell populations in their body – mosaicism – and risk of autoimmune diseases. It has also been observed that a significant proportion of the population can develop an immune response against some component of the system—which is of bacterial origin. Thus, would expose the individual to a health problem and would compromise the outcome of genome editing.
Controversy over genetic modification in embryos
However, the biggest ethical problem comes when using genome editing in embryos:
- If DNA mutation repair is considered to cure a hereditary disease, the potential is enormous, and the results so far have been very good. But There is already a different technique, clinically proven and with more than 15 years of experience, which is preimplantation diagnosis. This allows the selection of the non-mutated embryo for transfer to the mother.
- If what is proposed is to introduce a genetic improvement in healthy embryos, what we are talking about is the eugenics and improving the human race. In this regard, one must be extremely cautious.
La ARRIGE (Association for Responsible Research and Innovation in Gene Editing) is fighting for a strict international legislation. And although it is difficult, since at this level there is only the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is absolutely a priority since the decision taken in this regard will decide the future of Humanity.
Article published by the Dr. Vega Mª Cabezuelo Sánchez.
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