OREANDA-NEWS The state Committee of the PRC for health and planned childbirth instructed to conduct an investigation after media reports about the birth of babies with altered genes in China, the Ministry said.

Earlier, the associated Press reported that the scientist He Jiankui claims that he was involved in the first change in the DNA of the embryo in the history of mankind. According to the Agency, the scientist changed the embryos of seven pairs during reproductive treatment. To date, only one pregnancy has yielded results, two twin girls were born in November with altered DNA, the scientist says. According to him, his goal was not to cure or prevent hereditary disease, but to try to instill an ability that ordinary people do not have, namely to resist HIV and AIDS.

"On November 11, the media reported the birth of genetically modified babies with AIDS immunity. The Committee is closely monitoring this fact, immediately instructed the Committee on health of Guangdong province to conduct a thorough investigation," — said in a statement published on the Agency's website.

The Committee stated that it was necessary to resolve the situation in accordance with the law and, on the basis of responsibility for public health and scientific principles, to disclose the results of the investigation to the public in a timely manner.

Earlier, the University in Shenzhen, where the scientist worked, said that he was shocked by this information and considers the experiment a gross violation of ethical norms. The school stressed that he Jiankui did not inform the University and the faculty of biology about the scientific work carried out outside the University.

As previously reported by the associated Press, in the experiment of the scientist all fathers had HIV, while mothers were healthy. The scientist added that with effective treatment of HIV, the disease can be contained and not infect the child. However, the scientist's experiment is aimed at protecting the child from infection in the future. It was specified that the specialist conducted experiments on gene changes in mice, monkeys and human embryos in the laboratory for several years. His research has not yet been published in scientific journals for verification by other scientists.