Chinese Scientists Who Have Been Imprisoned For Editing Human Gens, Return To Genetic Research

Dr. He Jiankui, sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 (photo: x @Jiankui_He)

JAKARTA Dr. He Jiankui, who was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 after announcing that he had created the first babies to be genomeally altered, back in action. After two years of breathing the air of freedom, Dr. He revealed that he had opened three new laboratories to continue genetic experiments in human embryos.

Dr. He told the Japanese newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun, that he had no intention of making any more children whose genomes were edited. Despite being punished, he still insisted that he was "proud" of his past work, claiming: 'Society will eventually accept it.'

Dr. He said that he intends to develop gene editing techniques for the treatment of rare diseases such as Duchenne muscle dystrophy and family Alzheimer's disease. Despite being caught and receiving strong criticism from the scientific community, he has opened three new research laboratories in Beijing and Wuhan.

This follows previous efforts to restart his research in Hong Kong, where Dr. He said he had obtained a new visa on the island.

However, Hong Kong authorities revoked its visa less than a day after its announcement, arguing that Dr. He'made false statements' during his app.

Human embryo gene editing has been banned in China since 2003, but procedures are permitted for purely non-reproductive purposes.

Dr. He insisted that his work would be in accordance with China's legal limits and that he would no longer pursue any attempt to produce gene-edited human children.

"We will use unused human embryos and comply with both domestic and international rules," he said.

In November 2018, Dr. He shocked the scientific community when he announced that he had produced two genetically modified human babies.

Dr. He told an international genetics conference in Hong Kong that he had changed the twin female gene, dubbed 'Lulu' and 'Nana', to make them resistant to HIV.

Between 2016 and 2018, Dr. He changed the embryo gene owned by eight couples where only his father had HIV positive.

Using a gene editing technique called Crispr-Cas9, he rewrites parts of embryo's DNA with the aim of preventing the virus from spreading. He later revealed that a gene-reformed girl was also born from this experiment.

After his announcement, Dr. He was immediately arrested and tried by Chinese authorities for'reducting the human embryo's genes illegally intended for reproduction'.

According to Dr. He, the twins are now five years old and both are studying in kindergarten. Dr. He, along with his two colleagues who were also convicted, faced harsh ethical criticism of his experiment.

Accused that he does not need to continue risky treatment and is not needed without adequate approval from parents involved to pursue fame and personal gain.

During the trial, it was also revealed that Dr. He has falsified documents from an ethics review panel used to recruit a partner for his trial.

Even though Dr. He admits that his research is 'too hasty', he always insists that his work is for the benefit of society.

The results of analyzing the whole sequence of genes [children] show that there are no modifications to genes other than for medical purposes, providing evidence that genome editing is safe, "he added. I am proud to have helped families who want healthy children.