Recently, He Jiankui, the former associate professor of Southern University of Science and Technology, who was involved in the “gene-edited baby” case, has been released after serving his sentence. On April 7, the “Health Times”, “Beijing Youth Daily” and other media reported that He Jiankui himself had been contacted, but the other party said that it was not convenient for the call.
In 2018, He Jiankui genetically modified two human embryos, causing a storm of public opinion. More than 100 scientists have jointly opposed this, saying that the research’s “bioethical review is useless and can only be described as ‘crazy'”. Subsequently, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology asked He Jiankui to suspend scientific research activities, and the National Health Commission also ordered an investigation into his work.
In January 2019, Southern University of Science and Technology terminated the labor contract with He Jiankui. At the end of that year, He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan for the crime of “illegal practice of medicine”.
CRIPSPR Cas9 gene editing technology wins Nobel Prize in 2020. At present, many domestic enterprises are engaged in the development of drugs and medical technologies based on gene editing technology.
Scholars engaged in gene editing once told the Health and Knowledge Bureau that the He Jiankui incident was “completely independent” from the gene editing technology itself. Gene editing is a very common biological technology, which may be used in most molecular laboratories. The key is to “edit” what to do. He Jiankui’s problem is that “he edited human embryos using this technology, touching off-limits and undermining scientific ethics and laws.”
In July 2021, two years after the He Jiankui incident, the World Health Organization released the Human Gene Editing Governance Framework and the Human Genome Editing Recommendations. This area makes recommendations for the governance and regulation of human genome editing.
As for He Jiankui’s release from prison, many of his former acquaintances told the Health and Knowledge Bureau: He Jiankui has always been very ambitious, and he hopes that he can keep the red line and do some business in the future.
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