Recruiter for gene project says he felt 'deceived' about it

Bai Hua, head of a nongovernmental HIV/AIDS advocacy organization called Baihualin, said he "felt deceived" after hearing news of the world's first gene-edited babies whose DNA was altered in an attempt to make them immune to human immunodeficiency virus.

He Jiankui, a biological researcher, announced in a video posted on Monday that twin girls, Lulu and Nana, were born healthy a few weeks ago. They were conceived via in vitro fertilization, after which genetic editing technology was applied to the fertilized cell to prevent them from being infected with HIV.

He said his team had tried to alter embryos for seven couples recruited through Baihualin. One pregnancy resulted, The Associated Press reported on Monday.