“Gene-edited baby” researcher HE Jiankui sentenced to prison

HE Jiankui, former associate professor with the Southern University of Science and Technology, was convicted of illegal medical practice in a first-instance trial held in a district court in south China’s Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan (about 430,000 U.S. dollars) for illegally carrying out human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction, in which three genetically edited babies were born.

To other researchers involved in this experiment, ZHANG Renli and QIN Jinzhou, received jail terms of two years and 18 months with a two-year reprieve, as well as fines.

Xinhua news release, December 30, 2019

“Gene-edited baby” researcher HE Jiankui sentenced to prison
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