(ORDO NEWS) — In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the scientific world when he announced that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before they were born.
He was subsequently fired from his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was convicted of performing a risky medical procedure.
Speaking to The Guardian in one of his first interviews since his public appearance last year, he said: “I’ve been thinking about what I’ve done in the past for a long time. I did it too fast.”
However, he did not express regret or apologize, saying “I need more time to think about it” and “this is a difficult question.”
He previously received a PhD from Rice University and a PhD in genome sequencing from Stanford University.
In 2012, he returned to China and continued research on CRISP-Cas9 gene editing, launching a number of biotechnology business projects.
Four years ago, at an international conference in Hong Kong, He Jiankui announced that he had modified two embryos and placed them in the womb. Later it turned out that a third gene-edited child was born.
The resulting gene editing , according to the researcher, gives infants immunity to HIV.
The genetic modification of embryos has been, and remains, much more ethically controversial because the changes are made to every cell in the body and passed on to subsequent generations.
Many scientists were shocked by the risky procedure. The scientist was charged with “illegal medical practice” and sentenced to three years in prison.
Now the scientist has been released from prison and claims that he continues to maintain contact with the twin family.
“Lulu and Nana live normal, peaceful, serene lives and we have to respect them,” he said.
“We respect the privacy of patients, and as far as I am concerned, I put family happiness first and scientific discovery second.”
When asked about how the third child was doing, he replied, “I don’t answer that question,” later adding that the child “lived a normal life living with his parents.”
He appears determined to restart his career and has opened a lab in Beijing to work on affordable gene therapy for rare diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
“According to Chinese law, when a person serves a prison term, after that they start again with full rights,” he said.
“Compared to past experience, what we do today is much more important to determine whether I will move on or not.”
The scientist will continue research in the chosen subject, and the three modified children will live with uncertain consequences for their health.
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