Inside STAT: 'CRISPR babies' lab sought help to disable cholesterol gene in human embryos

Last November, CRISPR researcher Dr. Kiran Musunuru got an email from a scientist identifying himself as a graduate student at a China university. It explained that the lab where the student worked had knocked out a cholesterol gene called PCSK9 in human embryos and asked for Musunuru's thoughts on future research. The Penn researcher said he didn't have much advice and forgot about the exchange — until last week, when biologist He Jiankui announced he altered the DNA of IVF embryos, leading to the world's first "CRISPR babies." He also told a genome editing conference that a second pregnancy with an unspecified number of gene-edited embryos was underway. Musunuru dug through his emails, did some sleuthing, and discovered the student who emailed him worked with He.

Re-reading the emails, Musunuru said he thinks it’s possible that embryos with the edited cholesterol gene were used in the second pregnancy. “It seems clear this PCSK9 work in human embryos goes back at least two years,” he said." STAT's Sharon Begley has the story here.