Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, who helped create the world's first genetically edited babies has defended his work at a summit in Hong Kong. Jiankui, a professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, had edited embryonic genes for seven couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization, using a tool known as CRISPR-cas9, which can insert or deactivate certain genes.He has admitted that he felt proud of this specific work as the intervention resulted in the birth of two seemingly healthy twin girls whose altered DNA had made them resistant to HIV. He felt especially proud of being able to restore lost faith in the parents of the twins, the father of whom is believed to carry HIV.

After the presentation, he was met with criticism and ethical questions regarding the transparency of gene editing, and it also sparked calls for global agreement as the process outpaces the ability to make new laws. In addition to that, the removal of the gene, known as CCR5, could make the babies vulnerable to other infections such as West Nile virus, though the informed consent has no reference to this. David Baltimore, chair of conference, also mentioned that the research was not medically necessary as there are other treatments for HIV. He criticized Jiankui's lack of transparency and referred to an agreement made at the 2015 conference that said it would be irresponsible to use genetic editing until safety issues had been dealt with. Chinese scientists have expressed disapproval of Jiankui's research, stating that the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 tool is a "huge blow" to the reputation of Chinese biomedical research.

Due to the unknown consequences associated with gene editing, which is still in its infancy, Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of the gene-editing technique CRISPR and member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has called for a prohibition on using CRISPR to edit the genes of babies. However, despite the concerns of the professionals, a recent study suggested that the Chinese public is broadly in favor of using gene-editing for medical purposes based on an online survey conducted by Sun Yat-Sen University. This indicates that the research of gene editing in China not only has a promising potential, but is also responding to the public's needs, stated Liang Chen, a professor at Sun Yat-Sen University.