Last year, a team of Chinese scientists headed by Dr He Jiankui 'edited' the DNA of two baby girls born in China. The move was widely criticised as questions over 'gene-editing' in children were raised. It would seem that the controversial treatment may have had side-effects on the children, enhancing their cognitive abilities and their intelligence.
The twin girls, Lulu and Nana, were born after their DNAs were altered while they were still embryos. To give them a high level of HIV resistance, to boost their immunity against AIDS, a specific gene―the CCR5―was deleted from the embryos before implanting them in their mothers.
New research shows that the deletion of the gene may affect human performance in academics and even help recover quickly from strokes. In the case of Lulu and Nana, it may have enhanced their cognitive abilities. It is yet to be determined how this move may have affected the twins.
Dr Jiankui may have intended to only improve the girls' HIV resistance as he never mentioned anything about boosting their intelligence with the experiment.
Scientists agree that gene-editing shouldn't become the norm as the world isn't ready to genetically alter the IQ of the population. However, this could still help researchers to treat strokes and other brain-related problems.
