He Jiankui, a scientist who was sentenced to "gene editing baby", proposed to use gene editing technology to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
According to Bloomberg News on Tuesday (July 4), He Jiankui announced a research plan on Twitter on Thursday (June 29).He Jiankui proposed to edit a specific gene sequence in this research plan to test the prevention effect on Alzheimer's disease.
He Jiankui believes that by editing the gene sequence of specific parts, it will reduce the formation of human brain plaques, and plaques are the symbol of Alzheimer's disease.
He Jiankui said that this research will not involve genetic editing of human embryos, and the research team will first test on a mouse.
It is unclear how the experiments will be carried out. This experimental plan also needs to be permitted by the government and passed ethical approval.Although gene editing technology has proven to be able to effectively respond to genetic diseases and rare diseases, many countries including China are strictly prohibited to edit the genes of human embryo, because this may have unexpected side effects on embryos and their descendants.
He Jiankui announced the use of gene editing to cultivate a pair of AIDS immune infants in 2018, which caused huge ethical disputes.At the end of 2019, the Shenzhen court sentenced him to three years and fined 3 million yuan (RMB, about S $ 600,000).He Jiankui was released in April last year.Shortly after he was released from prison, he opened a biotechnology research center in Beijing, and regained the old bank and continued to treat rare diseases by geneticism.
