International
China slaps 3-yr sentence on ‘gene-editing’ scientist
A gene-editing scientist in China identified as He Jiankui has been slapped with a 3-year jail term by a Shenzhen-based court for ‘crossing the line’ with his work after women gave birth to gene-edited babies.
The Shenzhen-based court on Monday found Jiankui (an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen) guilty on charges of illegally practicing medicine.
The court also handed lesser sentences to Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou, who worked at two unnamed medical institutions for having conspired with Jiankui in his illegal work.
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“The three accused did not have the proper certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment,” the court said, according to Xinhua.
“They’ve crossed the bottom line of ethics in scientific research and medical ethics.”
Embattled Jiankui had in November 2018 said that he had used gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to change the genes of twin girls to protect them from getting infected with the AIDS virus in the future.
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