The Chinese scientist who shocked the world in 2018 with the announcement of gene-edited babies has now claimed to have a similar solution for curing Alzheimer’s, posting a research proposal for modifying human embryos that could help the “ageing population”.
He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison in China in 2019 for “illegal medical practices” and after his release last year, opened a laboratory in Beijing.
He had shocked the scientific community in 2019 after saying he had edited the genes of embryos of twin girls to make them resistant to HIV.
Meanwhile, his new proposal to cure Alzheimer’s disease has been received with scepticism, reports The Independent.
“The whole thing is, to put it bluntly, insane,” said Peter Droge, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
He called the proposal “highly questionable”. “He basically wants to genetically modify the human species so they don’t get Alzheimer’s. I’m surprised that he’s coming forward with this again.”
It remains unclear how the Chinese scientist aims to proceed with his experiment as he is serving a lifelong ban on working in reproductive technology.
His earlier work on gene-edited embryos was revealed only after the twin girls were born and was denounced for an irresponsible use of technology whose long-term effects remain poorly understood.
In the one-page proposal he tweeted, he, however, said that “no human embryo will be implanted for pregnancy in this study”.
Earlier this year, more than 200 Chinese scholars condemned the scientist’s “attitude and refusal to reflect on his criminal actions of violating ethics and regulations of gene editing”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
World’s first gene-edited babies’ creator relaunches career after prison release
Chinese declare that gene-editing scientist is breaking the law
Doubts and outrage over genetically edited babies claims