Investigations into He Jiankui’s gene-editing experiments reveal he breached ethical and regulatory principles seeking « personal fame and gain ».
Chinese authorities have concluded preliminary investigations into the Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claimed to have created the first gene-edited babies, reports Chinese state-run media service Xinhua.
The Guangdong Provincial Health Commission investigation, which has been operating since November, concluded He Jiankui’s actions « seriously violated ethical principles and scientific integrity and breached relevant regulations of China », stating that the research was conducted « in the pursuit of personal fame and gain. »
In November 2018, He Jiankui made explosive claims that he had edited the genes of two embryos, which were carried to term and resulted in the birth of twin girls « Lulu » and « Nana ». Jiankui claimed to have edited their DNA with CRISPR to make them resistant to infection from HIV.
He unveiled his research in a series of YouTube videos before presenting his findings at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, drawing the ire of the scientific community.
