BEIJING – A Chinese scientist who sparked an ethical debate five years ago by claiming that he created the world’s first genetically modified babies said on Tuesday he hopes to research rare inherited diseases in Hong Kong.
He Jiankui shocked the world in 2018 when he announced that he had altered twin girls’ embryos, with many in the scientific community criticizing his work as unethical. He was convicted by a court in mainland China in 2019 to practice medicine without a license and sentenced to three years in prison with a fine of 3 million yuan (US$445,000).
Ten months after his release, he announced in Beijing on Tuesday that he had received a Hong Kong visa and was in contact with universities, research institutes and companies in the financial metropolis.
He said he would consider working in Hong Kong if the opportunity arises and that he plans to research gene therapies for rare inherited diseases.
“My scientific research will comply with codes of ethics and the international consensus on scientific research,” he told a news conference.
Its announcement in 2018 sparked a global debate on the ethics of gene editing. In Interviews with The Associated Presshe said he had used a tool called CRISPR-cas9 to try to disable a gene that allows HIV to enter cells to give the babies the ability to resist AIDS.
The CRISPR-cas9 tool has been tested elsewhere on adults to treat disease, but many in the scientific community have criticized He’s work as medically unnecessary and unethical, in part because genetic changes could be passed on to future generations.
At his sentencing in 2019, China’s Shenzhen court said he had failed to qualify as a doctor, sought fame and profit, willfully violated Chinese regulations on scientific research, and crossed an ethical line in both scientific research and medicine. The court also confirmed a third birth, saying its project involved three genetically modified babies born to two women.
He was released last April and has been invited to speak at the University of Oxford next month. But he wrote on Twitter this month that he wasn’t ready to talk about his experiences over the past three years and decided to cancel the visit.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong.
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