Bullish on Gene-Edited Babies? Be Careful.
Gains in Crispr-focused stocks on an ethically troubling, if dubious, scientfic development show their mercurial nature.
Shocking for everyone but stock-pickers.
Photographer: Valentin Flauraud/Bloomberg
Rogue use of gene-editing technology always seemed inevitable. Now it appears that it actually may have happened.
Chinese researcher He Jiankui told the world Sunday that he has used Crispr — a powerful new tool that allows precise editing of DNA — to help create what may be the world’s two first genetically edited babies, twins who may be resistant to HIV infection. The claim has caused tremendous uproar, with good reason. This would mark a historic and ethically troubling divergence from scientific consensus on the use of a still emerging technology.