The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helped fund a U.S.-Wuhan research team that engineered an adenovirus designed to deliver DNA-editing machinery into human blood-forming stem cells, according to a study published July 1 in Molecular Therapy.
The stated purpose of the study was to genetically engineer human stem cells to resist HIV infection.
But the experiments raise broader questions about the risks of funding purported viral systems designed to permanently alter the human body.
The research was funded by multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants under HHS, grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and support from biotechnology company Ensoma Bio.
The author affiliations include the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and the State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The study acknowledges support from NIH grants R01HL128288, R01AI174304, K08AI183990, and R01HL141781, along with grants INV-017692 and INV-038139 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Additional support came from China’s Prevention and Control of Emerging and Major Infectious Diseases–National Science and Technology Major Project and Ensoma Bio.
According to the paper, the researchers claim to have engineered modified helper-dependent adenoviral (HDAd) vectors to carry CRISPR-derived base editors programmed to alter the human CCR5 gene.
Rather than editing cells outside the body before transplanting them back into a patient, the researchers say they designed the adenovirus to deliver the gene-editing machinery directly into blood-forming stem cells inside a living subject.
Hematopoietic stem cells continually produce new blood and immune cells throughout a person’s life.
By altering the DNA of those stem cells, the researchers say they sought to create a continuing supply of immune cells lacking a functional CCR5 receptor, which HIV is said to commonly use to infect cells.
The study claims that the engineered adenovirus produced “near-complete target site editing” in an HIV-permissive cell line.
The researchers also reported efficient editing in human CD34+ blood-forming stem cells obtained from mobilized donors and umbilical cord blood.
The experiments extended beyond laboratory cell cultures.
Researchers injected the engineered adenoviral vector into humanized mice, enriched the purportedly genetically modified cells, and then exposed the animals to HIV.
According to the paper, approximately 50% of the targeted CCR5 sites were edited in bone marrow cells, and the treated animals had roughly 12-fold lower HIV plasma titers than untreated controls following HIV challenge.
The paper describes the work as part of a broader effort to move human gene editing from ex vivo procedures—where cells are removed, genetically modified, and reinfused—to in vivo editing performed directly inside the body using purported viral delivery systems.
The researchers write that helper-dependent adenoviral vectors can carry large genetic payloads, be manufactured at relatively low cost, and be adapted to deliver different genome-editing systems into hematopoietic stem cells
Bottom Line
American taxpayer dollars and Gates Foundation funding helped finance a U.S.-Wuhan collaboration that engineered a virus to carry purportedly human DNA-editing machinery into living cells.
The study illustrates continued government investment in purported viral delivery systems designed to make permanent changes inside the body.
Congress, the White House, the Department of Energy, the FBI, the CIA, and Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) all acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic was “likely” the result of a laboratory incident involving engineered pathogens.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) helped fund a joint research venture between a U.S. university and the Wuhan Lab in China to develop a DNA-editing virus.
The Wuhan Lab, officially called the Wuhan Institute of Virology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was made famous after it released Covid, a gain-of-function bioweapon.
“The research was funded by multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants under HHS, grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and support from biotechnology company Ensoma Bio,” researcher Jon Fleetwood said Friday. “The author affiliations include the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and the State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.”
The international team “engineered an adenovirus designed to deliver DNA-editing machinery into human blood-forming stem cells,” Fleetwood said.
The researchers said their goal was to confer immunity to HIV [human immunodeficiency virus].
“The stated purpose of the study was to genetically engineer human stem cells to resist HIV infection,” Fleetwood said. “But the experiments raise broader questions about the risks of funding purported viral systems designed to permanently alter the human body.”
The mRNA Covid gene therapy injections have been shown to alter the DNA of vaccine recipients, making the involvement of the Covid-connected Wuhan Lab even more notable.
Additionally, the research into the DNA-editing virus aimed to build immunity to HIV infection. The Covid virus appears to have an HIV-like delivery system grafted onto a cold virus (the coronavirus).
In a medical experiment conducted between 2009 to 2013, a clinical trial tied to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) tested a DNA-editing mRNA shot for HIV. Anthony Fauci, who has deep ties to both HIV and Covid, served as the head of NIAID during those years.
The research into HIV immunity continues to this day, according to Fleetwood.
“According to the paper, the researchers claim to have engineered modified helper-dependent adenoviral (HDAd) vectors to carry CRISPR-derived base editors programmed to alter the human CCR5 gene. Rather than editing cells outside the body before transplanting them back into a patient, the researchers say they designed the adenovirus to deliver the gene-editing machinery directly into blood-forming stem cells inside a living subject,” Fleetwood said. “Hematopoietic stem cells continually produce new blood and immune cells throughout a person’s life. By altering the DNA of those stem cells, the researchers say they sought to create a continuing supply of immune cells lacking a functional CCR5 receptor, which HIV is said to commonly use to infect cells.”
The research into the DNA-editing virus aims to allow genetic modification to take place entirely within the body, reducing the need for complex and invasive medical procedures.
“The paper describes the work as part of a broader effort to move human gene editing from ex vivo procedures—where cells are removed, genetically modified, and reinfused—to in vivo editing performed directly inside the body using purported viral delivery systems,” Fleetwood said.
Fleetwood sounded the alarm on the research, research which could permanently alter the human body.
“American taxpayer dollars and Gates Foundation funding helped finance a U.S.-Wuhan collaboration that engineered a virus to carry purportedly human DNA-editing machinery into living cells,” Fleetwood said. “The study illustrates continued government investment in purported viral delivery systems designed to make permanent changes inside the body.”
The Abstract section of the study went into technical detail on the DNA-editing virus, saying:
Here, we present an HIV gene therapy strategy by in vivo precision gene editing in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). We successfully generated a panel of helper-dependent adenoviral vectors expressing all-in-one base editors (HDAd-BEs) targeting the CCR5 gene. In an HIV-permissive cell line, transduction with the HDAd-BE vector led to near-complete target site editing, CCR5 knockout, and inhibition of HIV infection. In HSC-enriched human CD34+ cells from mobilized donors or cord blood, we measured efficient precision base editing after HDAd-BE transduction and selection. Following in vitro T cell differentiation and HIV infection, we demonstrated that HIV genome titers were significantly lower with precision CCR5 base editing. Importantly, in a humanized mouse model, in vivo transduction with the HDAd-BE vector followed by selection resulted in ∼50% base editing at the CCR5 target site in bone marrow mononuclear cells, which conferred ∼12-fold lower HIV plasma titers than control animals after HIV challenge. No significant off-target editing and adverse effects associated with the treatment were observed. By targeting HSCs to precisely engineer HIV-resistant cells in vivo, our strategy represents an efficient, durable, and affordable approach to achieve a functional cure for HIV infection.
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Gates Foundation Funded Joint US/Wuhan Lab Team To Engineer DNA-Editing Virus