---
title: "Those Gene-Hacked Babies May Be Doomed to Die Young"
description: "He Jiankui gene-hacked human embryos in an attempt to make them immune to HIV. Instead, he may have cut down on their life expectancy."
date: "2019-06-03"
modified: "2019-06-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/gene-edited-babies-die-young"
categories:
  - "Biology"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "biology"
  - "gene hacking"
  - "medicine"
  - "the digest"
---

# Those Gene-Hacked Babies May Be Doomed to Die Young

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/gene-edited-babies-die-young.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Closer Look

About half a year after Chinese scientist He Jiankui first brought [gene-hacked babies](<https://futurism.com/chinese-researchers-gene-edited-human-embryos-hiv-crispr>) into the world, cooler heads have finally prevailed: scientists pored over hundreds of thousands of medical records to learn how the genes that He altered affect human health.

He's team gene-hacked the twin babies — and a [third baby](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gene-hacked-baby-birth>) due this summer — to knock out a gene called *CCR5* in hopes that it would render them immune to HIV. But according to [new research](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0459-6>) published in the journal *Nature Medicine*, people with that genome are 21 percent more likely to die before reaching the average life expectancy.

## Tradeoff

Scientists from UC Berkeley searched a repository of human subjects' DNA to look for the same variants of the *CCR5* that He Jiankui gave the children, *[NPR reports](<https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/03/727957768/2-chinese-babies-with-edited-genes-may-face-higher-risk-of-premature-death?sc=tw>)*. They found that the same genome that [might grant](<https://futurism.com/crispr-baby-prevent-hiv-flawed>) greater immunity from HIV also makes people vulnerable to dangerous flus and West Nile virus.

"What we found is that they had significantly increased mortality," lead researcher Rasmus Nielsen told *NPR*. "It's rather substantial. We were quite surprised the effect was this large."

## Measure Twice

He's experiments have spurred many scientists to recommend against gene-hacking human embryos until we know more.

"This is a lesson in humility," George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, told *NPR*. "Even when we think we know something about a gene, we can always be surprised and even startled, like in this case, to find out that a gene we thought was protective may actually be a problem."

**READ MORE:** [2 Chinese Babies With Edited Genes May Face Higher Risk Of Premature Death](<https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/03/727957768/2-chinese-babies-with-edited-genes-may-face-higher-risk-of-premature-death?sc=tw>) \[*NPR*\]

**More on gene hacking:** *[New Gene-Editing Method Could Lead to "Creation of a Super-Baby"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gene-edited-babies-super-baby>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)