Chinese researcher He Jiankui, who shocked the world by announcing the birth of first genetically edited babies, was jailed on Monday for three years along with two others with lesser sentence for illegal medical practice by a court in southern China.
He, who was also fined USD 430,000, claimed in November 2018 that the world's first genetically edited babies were born with their DNA altered to prevent them from contracting HIV.
His announcement created a furore in the international scientific community about possible ethical and medical impact of his experiment and led to immediate investigation from Chinese authorities.
The Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen said He, former associate professor with the Southern University of Science and Technology, and two others were convicted for illegal medical practice.
Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou from two medical institutes in Guangdong Province received jail terms of two years and 18 months with a two-year reprieve, respectively, as well as fines, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the verdict, the trio, not qualified to work as doctors, had knowingly violated the country's regulations and ethical principles to practice gene editing in assisted reproductive medicine.
The verdict and previous investigations showed He's team fabricated an ethical review certificate and recruited eight volunteer couples (with males who tested positive for HIV) intending to produce HIV-immune babies. They implanted genetically-engineered embryos into the females' body and impregnated two of them, who gave birth to three babies.
It said their acts were "in the pursuit of personal fame and gain" and have seriously "disrupted medical order."
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