Ep. 349: Let’s talk about CRISPR People

Guest: Henry T. Greely, Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences

The science and ethics of editing human DNA went on high alert in November of 2018 when it was revealed that two babies had been born after their embryos were CRISPed.

Professor Henry T. Greely, the Director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences, was notified and within minutes of the news, he was drawn into an ethical debate that we all must consider. Greely asks and attempts to answer the question, “Is it ethical to mess with human embryos?”

In his new book “CRISPR People,” he says, “Things are about to get interesting. This is an experiment that feels like a cross between bad fiction and reckless fiasco, shrouded in a deep fog of secrets.” The experiment in question took place in China by scientist He Jiankui, who attempted to edit the CCR-5, a gene known to be important in providing a gateway for HIV to infect some human cells.

Greely says, “The goal of the experiment was to make the gene inoperative and thus deprive HIV of that gateway for infection. The two edited embryos, of non-identical twin sisters, were transferred into their mother’s uterus sometime in late March or early April 2018. Sometime in October, somewhere in China, they were born.” On the surface, a noble idea – the reality of the experiment is nothing short of an attempt to win the Nobel Prize.

Dr. He forged documents giving him permission to conduct the experiment and now he is in prison in China. His imprisonment has frustrated many who want to know more about his experiment, which appears to have been an exercise in his own aggrandizement.

Stuart McNish invited Henry Greely to join us for a Conversation That Matters about human germline editing.