He Jiankui, the scientist who in 2018 claimed to have helped create the first genetically modified babies, has been sentenced to three years in prison by a Chinese court under the argument of crossing the lines of ethics. Jiankui was sentenced along with two of his colleagues, Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou, and to pay the sum of 3 million yuan (about $430,000).
“The three defendants did not have adequate certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, they deliberately violated national regulations on scientific research and medical treatment,” the court explained according to the agency Xinhua news.
Also known as “the Chinese Frankenstein,” Jiankui unveiled in 2018 that he had managed to manipulate two human embryos, the Lula and Nana twins, through a gene-editing tool called CRISPR. Its purpose was to make babies immune to the HIV virus; however, analyses of Jiankui’s work suggested that the scientist not only crossed the thin line of ethics, but may also have put the lives of babies at risk. The elimination of the CCR5 gene may have made the twins more vulnerable to influenza virus, among other health problems.
In the United States and in various parts of the world, it is prohibited to genetically manipulate human embryos by representing a health risk with side effects that could even affect future generations.
