Super Genius DNA

“Are you insane?!”

Someone from the audience stood up and shouted. It was Max Decani, a professor of medicine in Germany who was regarded as the pride of European medical research. He was considered one of the best doctors in Northern Europe alongside Forsberg.

“What did you just say? Did you say that you made gene-edited babies?”

Max, who was usually a calm person, was red in anger. Even his voice was trembling.

“Haha, relax,” He Jiankui said with a smile.

However, all the scientists already had stiff expressions from shock and bewilderment.

“Why did you do it?”

Someone’s voice resonated in the silent conference room. It was Young-Joon.

“Because they won’t get HIV if we edit CCR5,” He Jinakui replied. “Everyone, there is no reason to look at this negatively. Those babies are the first ever HIV-immune babies to exist.”

“That is technically misleading. There are already people who have mutations in CCR5 and are immune to HIV,” Young-Joon said. “Doctor He Jiankui, you mean those babies are the first to be artificially immune to HIV.”

“Ah, yes. You’re right.”

He Jiankui smiled brightly.

“We artificially made the babies immune to HIV. Everyone, HIV can be transmitted from the mother to the infant, but what if we make the baby immune to HIV by modifying the CCR5 gene? Then, that baby can be born safely,” He Jiankui said.

“Shut up!” shouted Alexandria, the greatest expert in biological physics.

“You can take a drug that stops CCR5 and still give birth to a child without any side effects,” Young-Joon said.

“That’s right. Those are called CCR5 blockers. It’s one of the drugs that Doctor Ryu and the WHO are using in their HIV eradication and also one of the drugs that Doctor Ryu has revolutionized the production of with the plant-based production method.”

“...”

“But there have been cases where the CCR5 blocker has failed to defend against HiV inheritance in the United States. Of course, it’s only a few cases, but even one failure is a huge hit since HIV is being passed down. However, it doesn’t fail if you manipulate the genes of a fetus and give birth to it.”

“Didn’t the Chinese government authorities do an ethics review of the research? I didn’t see anything internationally reported,” Messelson interrupted.

“It was all reviewed by the board of ethics,” He Jiankui replied.

“Bullshit,” Doctor Wang Lui interrupted, squinting his eyes in doubt. “You’re not the only Chinese scientist in the GSC, He Jiankui. An ethics review? There’s no way the authorities would approve such a thing. You must have fabricated something.”

“You’re all being so frustrating.”

He Jinakui hit the desk with his fist.

“We are facing a huge red line right now, and we have to decide whether to cross it or not. Why are you afraid of gene editing, people? What’s the problem? We have succeeded in creating a HIV-immune baby. Is that strong? Will you say that when the baby is in danger of getting HIV?”

“They won’t be in that kind of danger,” Young-Joon said. “Because we will erase HIV from this world in this generation.”

“You are amazing, Doctor Ryu, but everyone, editing CCR5 is just one example. We have proven that we can do it safely with Cas9, the genetic scissors Doctor Ryu invented.”

“The saying that a knife can either become a weapon or a scalpel depending on who’s holding it really is true,” Messelson said. “He Jiankui. Doctor Ryu developed the world’s most powerful anticancer drug by using dendritic cells to deliver Cas9 to immune cells; this is a technique that can cure all cancers. What the hell did you do?”

“I laid the foundation for humanity to take the next step,” He Jiankui said.

“You Nazi!” Max Decani shouted. “He Jiankui, you’re a disgrace to modern medicine!”

“Stop it!” He Jiankui shouted. “Everyone, my research is not wrong. Humanity will use my success to eliminate all genetic diseases.”

“No one would disagree with that for medical purposes,” Messelson said. “The problem is that you crossed the line too soon before any ethical research and regulations have been done. Now, there is going to be reckless genetic modification, aren’t we?”

“Science can’t progress just because we’re scared of that? People, science is about doing what we are capable of doing,” He Jiankui said.

“He Jiankui, what will you do if gene editing is done to change someone’s height, or appearance or skin texture? What if something like Gattaca happens?”[ref]Gattaca is a science fiction from 1997 about gene editing./[ref]

“We can think about that when we get there. All I did was show the possibility. That’s why I edited CCR5, the safest gene.”

“...”

The room was full of tension. Several scientists were staring at He Jiankui like they were going to kill him.

“It is not safe,” Young-Joon said.

“What?”

He Jiankui stared at Young-Joon like he had misheard him.

“It’s not safe. And those two poor babies will be in trouble because you dared to use humans for your experiments with your little knowledge.”

“What are you saying? Doctor Ryu, you’ve cured AIDS by a bone marrow transplantation of hematopoietic cells with edited CCR5, right? And those patients didn’t have any problems?”

“CCR5 is the route of infection in adults, that’s it. However, it’s different for fetuses who are developing,” Young-Joon said. “As a fetus divides and develops from a fertilized egg, its telomeres increase. Telomeres are the damage-resistant segments at the ends of DNA.”

“...”

“If CCR5 doesn’t work, those telomeres aren’t made normally, and those babies can start aging early and live a short life.”

“...”

The seminar room fell silent.

“Really?”

He Jiankui chuckled.

“How unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do. Science comes with sacrifices.”

“This is a scandal,” Messelson said. “An accident of this magnitude will put the brakes on Cas9 research for a while because there will be no funding. The rich GSC members probably don’t know this, but most scientists rely on government or institutional funding to do their research. All of that will be stopped, Doctor He Jiankui. You didn’t advance science; you blocked it.”

“Like how Doctor Messelson stopped research on biological weapons forever?” He Jiankui replied mockingly.

“...”

“There were many scientists who lived off of biological weapons research. Because of you, countless people couldn’t get funding and disappeared into the background.”

“I did the right thing. Is there anyone against the Biological Weapons Convention now?”

“No, I’m not pointing out that it’s wrong,” He Jiankui said. “Like how it won’t be wrong if my research ends up stopping research on Cas9 for a while.”

“Do not compare that to Doctor Messelson!” Legion shouted. “He and the other nuclear physicists risked their lives in the anti-war movement. How can someone like you be compared to him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think there is a right or wrong in science, only truth and false. What do you think, Doctor Ryu?” He Jiankui asked Young-Joon.

“...”

Young-Joon clenched his jaw.

“There is a right way in science,” he said.

“What a disappointing answer. I thought the sensation of modern science would be more daring and rebellious, but you’re just a model student, aren’t you?” He Jiankui said.

“I knew a day like this would come when I first brought Cas9 into the world, but I never imagined it would be so unprepared and sudden. I didn’t know there would be a science as radical and reckless as you,”

“It’s people like me that make the world go around. After all, Doctor Ryu and I are two of the best scientists who are good at working with Cas9.”

“...”

There were no objections. There was no one here who had ever manipulated human genes.

* * *

The conference became so chaotic that a short break was called. He Jiankui walked around the hotel surrounded by bodyguards.

“The CCR5 blocker has failed before? That’s bullshit. I’ve never heard of that,” Messelson said.

“It’s the first I’m hearing of it, too.”

Young-Joon bit his lip.

“But Doctor Messelson, what was the Biological Weapons Convention about?” Young-Joon asked.

“It’s nothing. I was a big advocate for the abolition of biological weapons back in the day.”

Messelson, one of the GSC members, was no ordinary scientist. He had received a big award called the Future Vision of Life Award, and it was given to heroic people who put themselves in harm’s way to save lives. Messelson was awarded for his work leading to the international convention on the prohibition of biological weapons.

In 1993, Messelson was working on arms control for the United States military when he discovered that they were developing biological weapons.

“Why are you making this?”

When Messelson asked his superior, he got this answer.

“Because it’s cheaper and easier to make than nuclear weapons.”

Biological weapons were as powerful as nuclear weapons, but cheaper.

‘Is it right to produce something like this?’

The nuclear bomb’s greatest safety came from the difficulty of developing it. In other words, it wasn’t something that a small terrorist organization could hack together in a few months.

But what about biological weapons? Once it was created and used somewhere, the area would be contaminated. A good biologist could scrape together the bacteria left there and culture it to make a biological weapon.

A powerful weapon can be a deterrent to war, but should they be expensive and difficult to make?

“The use of biological weapons was banned in the 1925 Geneva Protocol.”

When Messelson went to his superior and told him this, he was told, “That’s useless in the Cold War era. We don’t know when war will break out again. We need weapons. The Soviet Union has more nuclear weapons than the United States, and we need cheaper, more powerful weapons.”

Back at the lab, Messelson wrote a report called the United States and the Geneva Protocol. The report was sent to President Nixon through Henry Kissinger, and Messelson campaigned against the development of biological weapons.

And in late 1969, President Nixon gave up on biological weapons. And not just that, Messelson asked the Senate to go beyond the Protocol, which banned the use of biological weapons, and to abandon the research of offensive biological weapons altogether.

Eventually, the United States abandoned biological weapons research, leading to a global movement against biological warfare. And in 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was signed, banning all research.

“Doctor Ryu.”

Carpentier appeared from the conference room.

“Lecture two is starting now. It’s your turn.”

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