Speaking at a meeting on human embryo editing held in Hong Kong, the Chinese researcher, in his talk in English, said the purpose was to immunize the babies against the HIV virus through gene editing in the embryonic stage.

He told the audience that he had recruited eight couples through an AIDS support group. The requirements included the father being HIV-positive, and the mother HIV-negative. One of the participating couples later dropped out of his study, He said.

From the remaining seven couples, He said he got about 30 eggs, among which, 30 percent were gene-edited.