A year after the birth of the first supposedly genetically manipulated babies in China, the scientist behind the experiment was convicted. China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported Monday that researcher He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. He is also said to pay three million yuan.
According to Xinhua, He was found guilty of "illegally" manipulating human embryos "for the purpose of reproduction". He announced the birth of the twin girls "Lulu" and "Nana" on the video platform "Youtube" in November 2018. At the time, the researcher also stated that another woman was pregnant with a genetically modified child. According to Xinhua, this child was also born.
He claims to have manipulated the children's genome using the Crispr / Cas9 gene scissors in such a way that they are protected from HIV infection. His actions provoked great outrage among experts and the general public. What is reprehensible about the intervention is that He claims to have changed the genetic makeup of the children when they were still embryos. As a result, the genetic modification is located in every children's cell and is passed on to their offspring (read more about this here).
Two colleagues Hes also convicted
The risks of such a so-called germline intervention can currently hardly be overlooked. In February 2019, researchers reported that the genetic modification may have affected the children's brains and thus their cognitive abilities. The children may also have a lower life expectancy. He disappeared from the public shortly after the alleged experiments became known. It is not known where he is currently.
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The court also sentenced two colleagues Hes. Zhang Renli was sentenced to two years in prison and fined one million yuan. Qin Jinzhou was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was suspended for two years. He was also fined 500,000 yuan.
The three convicts did not have the necessary conditions to work as doctors, the court ruled. They knowingly violated Chinese law and the country's ethical principles and sought "personal fame and benefit".
Scientists have recently questioned the results of He's work. Experts were able to view documents of his research and in the beginning of December in an article for the magazine "MIT Technology Review" came to the conclusion that He's actions had violated numerous ethical and scientific standards. The manipulations that were supposed to protect the babies from being infected with HIV would also probably not have had the intended success (read more about this here).
