Did He Jiankui ‘Make People Better’? Documentary spurs a new look at the case of the first gene-edited babies
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Photo caption: He Jiankui seemed unprepared for the furor set off by his bombshell announcement. Photo credit: The He Lab / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0. Article by
In the four years since an experiment by disgraced scientist He Jiankui resulted in the birth of the first babies with edited genes, numerous articles, books and international commissions have reflected on whether and how heritable genome editing – that is, modifying genes that will be passed on to the next generation – should proceed. They’ve reinforced an international consensus that it’s premature to proceed with heritable genome editing. Yet, concern remains that some individuals might buck that consensus and recklessly forge ahead – just as He Jiankui did. […]
