The Race to Make Designer Babies

The Race to Make Designer Babies

The first thing that He Jiankui told me is that, in exchange for granting an interview, he usually asks journalists to agree to refer to him as the “pioneer of gene editing.”I don’t agree, of course. But I know enough about the infamous Chinese biophysicist to understand why he would want to launder his bad reputation.Back in 2007, He was a brilliant student who had left China to do postgraduate work at some of America’s best research universiti…

The Bride of ‘Chinese Frankenstein’—and the Race to Make Designer Babies

(The Free Press) – I’ve spent hours talking to the ‘Chinese Frankenstein’ who says he’s opening a lab in Austin. His competition, in his quest to pioneer gene editing in the United States? It’s his ex. I’m speaking to him because now, three years after getting out of prison in China, and despite being unable to leave the country, he’s plotting a comeback in America. When we first video-called last month—he was in Beijing, I was in New York—He to…

The Bride of Chinese Frankensteinand the Race to Make Designer Babies

The Bride of Chinese Frankensteinand the Race to Make Designer Babies Read more…