Did a Chinese scientist's experimental alteration of DNA in human embryos provide a successful model for future gene-editing applications? No, that's not true: The scientist was imprisoned for his illegal experiment, which was overwhelmingly condemned by peers in medical and scientific communities across the world
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by @kimnolbullshxt on Tiktok on Feb 28 2023, under the title "The reason we are lucky to be born these days" (translated by Lead stories staff). The author says:
In China, they already successfully engineered and implanted anti-AIDS baby. What will happen when this technology is developed even further? Height, appearance, even intelligence will be able to be modified.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri May 12 01:22:23 2023 UTC)
The author implies the experiment provides gene-editing technology to produce custom-designed babies without consideration for significant social resistance to the idea, or ethical and safety issues related to it.
In 2016, He Jiankui, a researcher at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said he altered the DNA of embryos for a couple during fertility treatments, resulting in the birth of twins that would be immune to infection by the HIV virus which causes AIDS.
Chinese authorities declared the experiment illegal and in 2019 sentenced He to serve three years in prison. The experiment violated guidelines that banned research on human in vitro embryos after the 14th day of existence, and its subsequent implantation into a human uterus.
The author claims that genetically altered embryos can allow wealthy people to custom-design their children, however, he fails to provide crucial context regarding considerable ethical or medical risks. For example, scientists have pointed out the possible side-effect of this gene editing experiment; the twins might have a shorter life expectancy, or cognitive brain issues, according to their claims.
