(yes, this is a real post by someone who also happened to have actually been arrested for gene editing embryos)
It’s illegal to gene edit embryos? What happened to said embryos? Real life X-men?
Get on that grindset
Submitted 3 weeks ago by heythatsprettygood@feddit.uk to [deleted]
https://feddit.uk/pictrs/image/bbde7f9b-01f5-4b9c-88ce-29bac0cbeb0d.webp
Comments
danc4498@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If he got incredibly lucky, they’re immune to AIDS. It’s much more likely that they’re not and will develop symptoms of new and exciting genetic disorders never seen before.
The biggest problem was that the technique used is really unreliable, so you’d expect off-target edits to be more common than on-target ones for a human-sized genome. For bacteria, you can get around it by letting the modified bacteria reproduce for a few generations, then testing most of them. If they’re all good, then it worked, and if any aren’t, you need to make a new batch. Testing DNA destroys the cells you’re testing, so if you test enough cells in a human embryo to be sure that the edits worked, it dies. You can’t just start when the embryo is a single cell to ensure that the whole thing’s been edited in the same way as you need to test something pre-edit to be able to detect off-target edits.
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Testing DNA destroys the cells you’re testing, so if you test enough cells in a human embryo to be sure that the edits worked, it dies.
I feel like we’re ignoring the obvious solution here. Stick the kids with an AIDS needle and see what happens! /s
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
They are not immune to HIV. They lack the receptor for HIV. Many people lack this receptor naturally.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
It’s illegal to gene edit embryos?
Not in all countries. In US, it’s not illegal unless you use federal grant money.
So Sam Altman is starting a company to do this, basically targeted eugenics for wealthy people. Of course, the technology is not 100% accurate, so there will be children born with genetic abnormalities or disease, …so keep the receipt!
HeyJoe@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That sounds horrible. So what do they do with the kids born with issues? Are the wealthy just going to send the kid to be adopted or somehow make it legal to dispose of babies?
JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
This guy did so to two children, giving them an experimental immunity gene IIRC. He promptly faced jailtime for medical malpractice.
He apparently is back in the news for wanting to do alzheimers testing on mice and then zygotes. this time all above board, he says.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
That’s all wrong.
He edited out the receptor for HIV. This is natural in some people. He did it for cash.
He’s not a doctor. The infraction is editing the human germline, which is not illegal in the USA, but is in most countries.
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Not enough jail time
NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
We are never going to turn lizards into Charizards without breaking some eggs
danc4498@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Doesn’t birth break eggs? And nobody is complaining about that!
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
You know what would complete my life?
An illegal bio-engineering charge sounds great on a CV.
Especially when there’s no one left to read it.
PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is this the guy who cured HIV in two embryos by gene editing and was then shunned by the scientific community for not following regulation and procedure and playing god?
exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
No, it’s a guy who edited the genes of some embryos in the hopes that a particular gene mutation would give resistance to HIV.
Only: the gene editing didn’t actually give the specific version of the gene studied to have an effect on HIV susceptibility, the gene is also associated with memory and other brain function, and the gene was incompletely edited so that there are multiple versions of the genes in both kids, when the studied mutation needed to be present in both chromosomes of the chromosome pair in order to show some kind of effect on HIV.
Even if you believe that the evidence is strong enough to support the idea that a mutation in this gene can give HIV resistance, this guy didn’t actually do it in a way that was scientifically sound, and now two real human beings have to live their lives with the effects, including any off target effects, whatever they might be.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
God wants babies to contract HIV
FenrirIII@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I gene edited your mom this morning
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
There’s like a 1 in a million chance your sperm wins out though.
eru@mouse.chitanda.moe 3 weeks ago
sometimes I can’t believe this guy has a phd from rice
TheOakTree@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
It’s real. I knew about him already, but I didn’t know about his tweets.
manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
He served as associate professor of biology at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, before his dismissal from the university in January 2019.[2][3][4] In November 2018, He announced that he had created the first human genetically edited babies,[5] twin girls who were born modified with HIV resistance in October 2018 and were known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana. The announcement was initially praised in the press as a major scientific advancement.[6] However, following scrutiny on how the experiment was executed, he received widespread condemnation from the public and scientific community.[7][8][9] An investigation report showed that he raised money for his research to evade government and university research regulations.[10]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Jiankui
wow lol
Gates9@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
MutantTailThing@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If I microwave my balls does that count as gene editing?
dalekcaan@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
A .jpg of Randy Marsh microwaving his balls
mEEGal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The courage to ask the real questions
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
If I proofread my cousin Eugene’s book report, does that count as Gene editing?
marcos@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I think you’ll need ionizing radiation, not microwaves.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
is your name Gene?
Akasazh@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m not sure, but it may win you a Darwin award