On February 4, 2023, He Jiankui, who was previously sentenced to three years in prison for the “gene-edited baby incident”, said in an interview with the media: “For a long time, I have been thinking about what I have done in the past. To sum it up in one sentence: I acted too quickly.”
Regarding the previous incident, He Jiankui did not express regret or apologize, but said “I need more time to consider” and “this is a complex issue”.
During the interview, He Jiankui also introduced that he will give speeches at a series of international academic seminars this year. He plans to conduct new clinical trials again in the future, and believes that the previous gene-editing scandal is not an insurmountable obstacle.
Regarding the three babies born from the previous gene-editing experiment, He Jiankui said that he still maintains contact with the families of the twins: “They live a normal and peaceful life, and we should respect the privacy of the patients. For me, I put the happiness of the family first and scientific discovery second.” The third child also “lives a normal life with his parents”.
The beginning and end of gene-edited babies
He Jiankui was born in Xinhua County, Loudi, Hunan Province in 1984. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2006, entered Rice University in 2007 and obtained a PhD, and obtained a degree in biophysics in 2010. After obtaining his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University under Stephen Quake. He returned to China in 2012 and opened a laboratory at the Southern University of Science and Technology.
On November 26, 2018, He Jiankui announced that a pair of gene-edited babies named Lulu and Nana were born in China, because one gene (CCR5) of the twins was modified, they were born with natural resistance to the HIV virus. This news sparked a huge wave of discussion and quickly triggered discussions on gene editing and related ethical issues.
On November 28, He Jiankui attended the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing and reported on his project, and said that there was also a gene-edited embryo implanted, which was in the pregnancy stage.
Screenshot of He Jiankui’s speech live broadcast
On December 19 of the same year, He Jiankui was selected as one of the top ten scientific figures of the year by Nature.
But at the same time, industry experts questioned the motivation and necessity of the experiment, the compliance of the experimental process, and the uncontrollability of the experimental impact.
On January 21, 2019, according to Xinhua News Agency, the investigation team of the “gene-edited baby incident” in Guangdong Province preliminarily found out, that the incident was caused by He Jiankui, an associate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, who, in pursuit of personal fame and fortune, raised funds on his own, deliberately evaded supervision, and privately organized relevant personnel to carry out human embryo gene editing activities for the purpose of reproduction, which is strictly prohibited by the state. Subsequently, the Southern University of Science and Technology terminated the labor contract with He Jiankui and terminated all his teaching and scientific research activities in the school.
From March 2017 to November 2018, He Jiankui forged ethical review letters through others and recruited 8 couples of volunteers (the male partner tested positive for HIV antibodies, and the female partner tested negative) to participate in the experiment.
In order to avoid the relevant regulations that people carrying HIV are not allowed to undergo assisted reproduction, he planned for others to impersonate volunteers to have blood tests, instructed some practitioners to illegally perform gene editing on human embryos and implant them into the mother’s body. In the end, 2 volunteers became pregnant, one of whom gave birth to twin girls Lulu and Nana, and the other was pregnant.
The investigation team stated that for the babies who have been born and the pregnant volunteers, Guangdong Province will, under the guidance of relevant national departments, work with relevant parties to do a good job of medical observation and follow-up.
On December 30, 2019, the “gene-edited baby” case was publicly pronounced in the first instance by the People’s Court of Nanshan District, Shenzhen City. He Jiankui and the other 3 defendants were convicted of the crime of illegal medical practice for jointly illegally implementing human embryo gene editing and reproductive medical activities for the purpose of reproduction, and were held criminally responsible according to law. The court sentenced the defendant He Jiankui to three years in prison and fined him RMB 3 million.
After being released from prison, he established a laboratory to focus on the research of gene therapy for rare diseases
In April 2022, domestic media reported that He Jiankui had been released from prison. In November 2022, He Jiankui established a laboratory in Daxing, Beijing, and posted on his personal Weibo: “The first rare disease I want to conquer: DMD”.
He Jiankui’s Weibo screenshot
DMD stands for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is an X-linked genetic muscle disease. About one in every 3,500 male infants suffers from this disease. Patients show progressive atrophy of skeletal muscles and usually die before the age of 20 due to respiratory failure. There is currently no effective treatment.
In October 2022, Terry Horgan, the only volunteer in the world to participate in CRISPR gene editing therapy for DMD, died during the treatment. The therapy Terry received was developed by the Cure Rare Disease (CRD) team, which was built by his brother, and cost millions of dollars to develop a CRISPR therapy specifically for him. Terry was the only trial participant for the therapy.
In this regard, He Jiankui expressed his views on Weibo: “As scientific researchers, we should have a sense of awe for nature and technology.”
He Jiankui’s Weibo screenshot
On December 14, 2022, He Jiankui posted on Weibo: “My DMD gene editing treatment research plan: clinical trials for DMD patients will begin in 2025.”
He Jiankui’s Weibo screenshot
According to the latest interview, He Jiankui claimed that he has obtained sufficient funds through charitable donors, rented a laboratory and hired five scientists to start animal research. He also said that if necessary, he will use his personal assets to further develop this cause. (Planning: z_popeye｜Supervisor: gyouza)
Title image source: He Jiankui’s personal Weibo
Source of information:
[1]https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/04/scientist-edited-babies-genes-acted-too-quickly-he-jiankui
[2]He Jiankui’s personal Weibo
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