Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims to have been responsible for the first genetic manipulation of babies worldwide, was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for the experiment, the Chinese official said.
According to Xinhua, He Jiankui was also ordered to pay a fine of three million renmimbis (about 380,000 euros), after a south-eastern Shenzhen court found him guilty of illegally modifying embryo genes for the purposes of reproductive.
Two other investigators involved in the case received minor sentences and fines. Zhang Renli was sentenced to two years in prison and fined a million Renmimbis (about 128,000 euros). Qin Jinzhou received an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, and a fine of 500,000 yuan (about 64,000 euros).
In November last year, He Jiankui surprised the international community by stating that he had successfully raised the first genetically – two twin girls – manipulated to resist HIV.
The announcement sparked a global debate about the ethics of genetic modification. Many experts have dubbed He Jiankui’s conduct unethical and say there are serious unanswered questions about the safety of embryo manipulation. They underlined the need to ensure that these experiments are monitored so that the technology is not misused.
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