Rice professor’s role in ‘world’s first gene-edited babies’ under investigation

CNN — Rice University is investigating bioengineering professor Michael Deem after he was quoted in media reports as having been involved with the work of He Jiankui, the Chinese researcher who claims to have created the world’s first gene-editedbabies. “This research raises troubling scientific, legal and ethical questions,” said Doug Miller, director of Rice University’s media relations team. In a statement, Miller said Rice had “no knowledge of this work.” “We have begun a full investigation of Dr. Deem’s involvement in this research.” He claims that he used a tool called CRISPR-Cas9, which can insert or deactivate certain genes, toalter the CCR5 gene in the DNA of several embryos to make them resistant to HIV. Rice University said it did not believe that any of the clinical work was performed in the United States, but “regardless of where it was conducted, this work as described in press reports, violates scientific conduct guidelines and is inconsistent with ethical norms of the scientific community and Rice University.” While at Rice, Deem has worked extensively on influenza vaccine efficacy, immune system modulation and HIV. Deem also says a research interest is the “mathematical model of evolution that accounts for cross-species genetic exchange.” A recent paper by Deem on math modeling for flu was co-written by biomedical ethics researcher Kirstin Matthews at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.