GELENDZHIK, September 17. /TASS/. The professional community of Russian geneticists is working on a message to Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova with a request for freezing genome editing-related experiments, the chief specialist in medical genetics of the Russian Health Ministry, Sergei Kutsev, told the biomedical technologies forum Biotechmed-2019 on Tuesday.
The reason behind the initiative is an experiment by Chinese biochemist He Jiankui. He claims to have repeatedly edited the human genome at the embryo stage. His experiments resulted in the birth of at least two genetically modified twin girls. The experiment, says He, made the babies HIV resistant. Russian biologists Denis Rebrikov later said that he would be prepared to repeat the experiment in Russia and even found volunteers who agreed to participate.
"I believe it is immoral… In fact, the point at issue is experiments on human beings. Moreover, I put the issue on the agenda of the Science Council of the Genetic Medical Research Center [of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. We all agreed that this is impermissible. We are working on a corresponding message to the Health Ministry and the chiefs of research centers where such experiments may be held to impose a freeze until the rules of handling human embryos have bene determined. Until the moment specialists prove this technology is safe," Kutsev said.
The message to the Health Ministry will be finalized within days. At the same time he said that genome editing was a very promising technology, which might be used for treating hereditary and oncological diseases. Many laboratories around the world have been working on this technology for some time. He warned, though, that attempts to edit the embryo’s genome may entail dire consequences.
"While trying to correct the target cells healthy genes may be affected, too. If this happens, the embryo may develop other hereditary diseases. If we consider properly what can be done in such cases and the risks the genome editing involves, it will become clear that at this point it is impossible. We should focus on the editing of somatic cells, in other words, the cells the body of a child or an adult consist of in order to develop cell products for treatment, while putting the genome editing idea on the back burner," Kutsev suggested.
Legal ban on experiments
He also said it was a big problem Russia currently had no legislative basis to govern such experiments. "Currently we have no regulatory document to control the status of the human embryo. Sometimes there is an impression that biologists (Russian, who are going to stage such an experiment - TASS) have taken advantage of the legal vacuum. That we have no regulatory document does not mean we are free to violate ethics," he concluded.
Biotechmed conference
The biomedical technologies conference Biotechmed is being held in Gelendzhik on September 16-17 with support from the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It is devoted to crucial government strategies in developing biomedical technologies, including those within the framework of the national project Health. Special emphasis is placed on the digital aspect of the health service, the export of medical items, nuclear medicine, biomedical cell products and genetics.