Scientists sentenced in geneedited babies case

BEIJING — A court in China on Monday sentenced He Jiankui, the researcher who shocked the global scientific community when he claimed that he had created the world’s first genetically edited babies, to three years in prison for carrying out “illegal medical practices.”

In a surprise announcement from a trial that was closed to the public, the court in Shenzhen found He guilty of forging approval documents from ethics review boards to recruit couples in which the man had HIV and the woman did not, Xinhua, China’s official news agency, reported. He had said he was trying to prevent HIV infections in newborns, but state media Monday said he deceived the subjects and the medical authorities alike.

He, 35, created an uproar last year when he announced at a conference in Hong Kong that he had created the world’s first genetically edited babies — twin girls. On Monday, China’s state media said his work had resulted in a third genetically edited baby, who had been previously undisclosed.

He pleaded guilty and was also fined $430,000. In a brief trial, the court also handed down prison sentences to two other scientists who it said had “conspired” with him: Zhang Renli, who was sentenced to two years in prison, and Qin Jinzhou, who got a suspended sentence of 1 1⁄2 years.

He’s declaration made him a pariah among scientists, cast a harsh light on China’s scientific ambitions and embroiled other U.S. scientists who were connected to He. Although He offered no proof and did not share any evidence or data that definitively proved he had done it, his colleagues had said it was possible that he had succeeded.

U.S. scientists who knew of He’s plans came under scrutiny. He’s former academic adviser, Stephen Quake, a star Stanford University bioengineer and inventor, was cleared of any wrongdoing after an investigation into his interaction with his former student. Rice University has been investigating Michael Deem, He’s doctoral adviser, because of allegations that he was actively involved in the project.

Quake has said he had nothing to do with He’s work. Deem has said he was present for parts of He’s research, but his lawyers have denied that he was actively involved.

During the Hong Kong conference, He said he used in vitro fertilization to create human embryos that were resistant to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. He said he did it by using the CRISPRCas9 editing technique to deliberately disable a gene that is used to make a protein HIV needs to enter cells.

Many nations, including the United States, have banned such work, fearing it could be misused to create “designer babies” and alter everything from eye color to IQ.