Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who claims to have edited the genes of twin babies, chose to speak publicly and disclose details of the work for the first time, and revealed that another gene-edited baby is due next year, for the first time this week on November 28th in Hong Kong, at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing.
"First, I must apologize," He started, when he took the stage 1pm local time. The results of the study were leaked unexpectedly, he said, taking away the opportunity for the data to be explained in a scientific venue. "The study has been submitted to a scientific journal for review," he added.
He continued to thanked his university, the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, yet noted that they were "unaware of the study's conduct." On Nov. 26, the University released a statement stating that Jiankui He had been on unpaid leave since February, and that they were "deeply shocked" by the news of the continued research.
In his talk, which put in detailed his research on editing a gene called CCR5 in human embryos, He said that the parents were told that they could option to exit the trial without implanting any gene-edited embryos, or for them to use non-edited embryos instead. However, he said, the couple decided to go for the gene-edited embryos.
He also addressed concerns about "off-target" editing. "Off-target" editing is what happens when the molecular editing tools target and change the wrong spot in the genome, which could prove to have serious consequences. The team did identify one potential off-target edit in the embryos, He said. However, he claimed that this edit was in an "intergenic," a stretch of DNA that doesn't code for any proteins, region of the genome. He also said that the parents were told of the potential risks of the off-targets. After the babies were born, the scientists tested the infant's' DNA to confirm that the intended gene-editing occurred. He also claimed that the off-target edit was not seen in the babies' DNA after birth, suggesting it might have been an error that had occurred when analyzing the embryonic DNA.
The twin DNA was edited with CRISPR/Cas9 to disable the CCR5 gene involved in HIV infections, may soon be joined by another child, on November 28. Another woman has decided to participating in a gene-editing trial to create children resistant to HIV infection is in the early stages of pregnancy, He noted in his talk.
He concluded his talk by mentioning plans to monitor the twins' health for the following 18 years.
After the talk, He faced a barrage of angry questions from the talk's moderator as well as from the scientists in the audience. He left the stage by saying that he would've done the same gene-editing to his own baby.
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