Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Nepal protests
  • Nepal Protests Live
  • Vice-presidential elections
  • iPhone 17
  • IND vs PAK cricket
  • Israel-Hamas war
fp-logo
Second woman from controversial gene-edited baby study pregnant: Chinese media
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • Second woman from controversial gene-edited baby study pregnant: Chinese media

Second woman from controversial gene-edited baby study pregnant: Chinese media

Agence France-Presse • January 21, 2019, 19:10:44 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

A probe finds that the scientist had ‘forged review papers’ & ‘deliberately evaded supervision’.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Second woman from controversial gene-edited baby study pregnant: Chinese media

A researcher who claimed to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies will face a Chinese police investigation, state media said Monday, as authorities confirmed that a second woman fell pregnant during the experiment. He Jiankui shocked the scientific community last year after announcing he had successfully altered the genes of twin girls born in November to prevent them from contracting HIV. He had told a human genome forum in Hong Kong that there had been “another potential pregnancy” involving a second couple. [caption id=“attachment_5624551” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]He Jiankui during an interview at his laboratory in Shenzhen in China. AP He Jiankui during an interview at his laboratory in Shenzhen in China. AP[/caption] A provincial government investigation has since confirmed the existence of the second mother and that the woman was still pregnant, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The expectant mother and the twin girls from the first pregnancy will be put under medical observation, an investigator told Xinhua. The provincial government probe found He had “forged ethical review papers” and “deliberately evaded supervision,” according to Xinhua. He had “privately” organised a project team that included foreign staff and used “technology of uncertain safety and effectiveness” for illegal human embryo gene-editing, it said.

Investigators told Xinhua that the scientist was “pursuing personal fame” and used “self-raised funds” for the controversial experiment. Eight volunteer couples — HIV-positive fathers and HIV-negative mothers — signed up to He’s trial, investigators found, with one couple later dropping out. Details of the experiment — which has not been independently verified — triggered an immediate backlash from the global scientific community and the Chinese government ordered a halt to He’s research work days after it was publicly announced. Speaking at the genome summit in Hong Kong in November, He said he was “proud” of altering the genes of the babies, given the stigma affecting AIDS patients in the country. [caption id=“attachment_5624571” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed to have helped make the worlds first genetically edited babies: twin girls whose DNA he said he altered to remove HIV. AP Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed to have helped make the worlds first genetically edited babies: twin girls whose DNA he said he altered to remove HIV. AP[/caption] But such gene-editing work is banned in most countries, including China. He will be “dealt with seriously according to the law,” and his case will be “handed over to public security organs for handling,” Xinhua reported. The scientist was educated at Stanford University in the US and recruited back to China as part of Beijing’s “Thousand Talents Plan” to reverse brain drain, according to a copy of He’s resume published on the website of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. He’s university has distanced itself from the researcher, saying he had been on unpaid leave since February and had “seriously violated academic ethics”. He said the twins’ DNA was modified using CRISPR, a technique which allows scientists to remove and replace a strand with pinpoint precision. Experts worry meddling with the genome of an embryo could cause harm not only to the individual but also future generations that inherit these same changes.

Tags
gene editing SciTech Gene edited Babies He Jiankui Southern University of Science and Technology
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV