He Jiankui, a Chinese scientist who created the world’s
first “gene-edited” babies has been handed a 3-year jail sentence.
The associate professor at Southern University of Science
and Technology in Shenzhen first ignited worldwide outrage in November 2018
after revealing that he used gene-editing technology known as Crispr-Cas9 to
change the genes of twin girls to protect them from getting infected with the
AIDS virus in the future. He has been held under armed guard at a university
guesthouse since he declared his work to the world at the international gene
editing conference, including major interviews with Western media.
The Chinese scientists who alongside his collaborators
forged ethical review materials and recruited men with AIDS who were part of a
couple to carry out the gene-editing, was suspended from his job and accused of
work that was "extremely abominable in nature".
Jiankui who carried out the gene-editing process on seven
embryos in late 2018, was found guilty of illegal practice alongside two others
and he was fined 3m yuan (US$430,000).
State news agency Xinhua reported that Zhang Renli who
worked with Jiankui was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 1m yuan. Qin
Jinzhou on the other hand received an 18-month sentence, but with a two-year
reprieve and a 500,000 yuan fine.
The court said;
“The three accused did not have the proper certification to
practise medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated
national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment.
“They’ve crossed the
bottom line of ethics in scientific research and medical ethics.”
During the sentencing, it was also learnt that a third baby
from a different mother to the twins, was born as part of the project before it
was shut down by the authorities. An original research published earlier this
month by the MIT Technology Review found that he may not have succeeded in
reproducing the gene that makes some people immune to HIV.
