The genetic mutation given to Chinese twins last year rendering them immune to the HIV virus may significantly reduce life expectancy, scientists said Monday in a fresh warning against human gene-editing.
Chinese researcher He Jiankui last year provoked widespread outrage among doctors by unveiling the results of an experiment he conducted to alter the DNA of twin girls, prompting authorities in Beijing to announce a moratorium on the practice.
Researchers from the University of Berkeley California examined the health data of 409,000 people of British ancestry and looked at whether or not they possessed the mutation, which occurs naturally in around one percent of the population, and how and when they died. “The cost of resistance to HIV may be increased susceptibility to other, and perhaps more common, diseases,” the study’s authors wrote.The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, doesn’t explain why the mutation increases mortality risk, but the authors said there was a clear statistical trend that should discourage repeats of He’s experiment.
David Curtis, Honorary Professor at University College London’s Genetics Institute, said the new study provided a clear look at the possible unintended consequences of gene-editing in humans.
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