Leading American biologist says the work was not medically necessary
Scientists lined up to criticise Chinese biologist He Jiankui on Wednesday as he sought to defend his work on what he says is the world’s first genetically edited babies.
He claimed earlier this week that twin girls had been born in China this month from two embryos he and a team of researchers had altered to protect them against HIV.
At the Second International on Human Genome Editing the University of Hong Kong, Nobel laureate and biologist David Baltimore said he did not think the work was medically necessary.
“The choice of diseases we heard earlier today are much more pressing than providing to one person some protection against HIV infection,” Baltimore, chairman of the summit’s organising committee, said.
Baltimore also asked whether He consulted his peers in bioengineering and immunology.
“I think there has been a failure of self-regulation by the scientific community because of the lack of transparency,” Baltimore said.
