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In the news yesterday, a Chinese researcher claimed to have produced the first genetically-engineered human beings, by using a gene-modifying technique called\u00a0CRISPR, to modify a newly-formed embryo immediately after IVF fertilization, so as to remove a particular genetic segment with the outcome of providing the child with resistance to HIV.\u00a0 This was reported via AP<\/a> and elsewhere but not via a peer-reviewed paper, and, when the experiment was announced, most scientists who commented condemned it as a major ethical violation, though AP cited one,\u00a0George Church of Harvard, as supportive.<\/p>\n In fact, the couple in the experiment gave birth to two babies, one with both genes and the other with only one copy of the gene edited, which suggested to observers that researchers intended that outcome in order to be able to test the twins to further examine the success of the experiment.\u00a0 And although the experiment was rationalized as providing protection for children of HIV positive fathers, in fact, transmission of HIV from fathers to children is not a risk if the father\u2019s viral load is undetectable (and there exist other techniques as well).<\/p>\n This was, it\u2019s conceded, inevitable.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not a surprise that the Chinese are up to this, given that they have already demonstrated that they don\u2019t feel the need to follow the ethical standards of the West.\u00a0 (These are the people who stand, credibly to my understanding, accused of executing Falun Gong members for their organs.)<\/p>\n