Genetic Engineering

In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui used a gene-editing tool, CRISPR, on two babies trying to make them resistant to HIV. Many criticized him for not following ethical rules and for the uncertainty about the babies’ future health. There were also concerns about whether the parents fully understood the experiment. He Jiankui was later sentenced to three years in prison for illegal medical practices. His actions started a debate on the safety and ethics of gene editing.

Here are some places to go to learn more about this story:

• “The Transformative, Alarming Power of Gene Editing: A rogue scientist showed that crispr gives humans the ability to transform ourselves. But should we?” by Dana Goodyear. The New Yorker. This is a long-form article about the story and its ethical implications.
• Here is a wikipedia article about He Jiankui.
• There is a documentary about this story. I have not viewed or vetted this documentary, so use your own discretion.
• Update July, 31 2024 - From, The Economist, “Gene-editing drugs are moving from lab to clinic at lightning speed.” The article begins with the story of a man who was cured of a fatal disease using CRISPR technology:

  One autumn day in 2020 Patrick Doherty was walking his dog up a steep mountain in County Donegal, Ireland, when he noticed he was, unusually for him, running out of breath. The eventual diagnosis was terrifying: amyloidosis, a rare genetic disease that caused a protein, amyloid, to build up in his organs and tissues. The prognosis was even worse: it would cause him years of pain until it finally killed him. In the face of such terrible fortune, though, Mr Doherty had a stroke of luck. He was able to join a trial of a new medical therapy and, with just a single injection, was apparently cured. Now, he continues to walk his dog up that steep mountain in County Donegal every week.

  • To view the article, try this link, first: https://econ.st/3yoX3mY
  • If that doesn’t work, try this one: economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/07/31/gene-editing-drugs-are-moving-from-lab-to-clinic-at-lightning-speed