Gene-editing Chinese scientist He Jiankui could face death penalty, reports say
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The controversial Chinese scientist who claimed to have edited the genes of twins in a world-first last year may face the death penalty, reports say.
Key points:
- A prominent UK gene expert says He Jiankui may be facing corruption charges in China
- Mr He is believed to be under some form of house arrest
- Chinese scientist has faced widespread condemnation for his work
He Jiankui announced in November last year that he had used technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls in an attempt to protect them from infection with the HIV virus carried by their father.
The revelation sparked an international scientific and ethical row and Mr He is now reportedly under a form of house arrest.
Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, who organised the November 2018 event in Hong Kong where Mr He presented his supposed breakthrough, said the Chinese scientist could face the death penalty.
"There is an official investigation led by the ministries of science and health," Professor Lovell-Badge said, according to the United Kingdom's The Telegraph newspaper.
"He could be had up on all sorts of charges of corruption, and being guilty of corruption in China these days is not something you want to be.
But Beijing-based lawyer Xingshui Zhang told the ABC because he was not a senior official of China it was highly unlikely the scientist would receive the death penalty on corruption charges.
Mr He went missing shortly after his gene-editing announcement and is now believed to be staying in a heavily-guarded university-owned apartment in Shenzhen.
"It's not clear whether he's under guard meaning house arrest, or the guards are there to protect him. I suspect both," Professor Lovell-Badge said.
Chinese authorities have put a halt to all forms of research like Mr He's and ordered universities to review all research work on gene editing.
'Very rich and a huge ego'
Professor Lovell-Badge, a gene expert at Britain's Francis Crick Institute, also revealed he believed Mr He had most likely achieved the gene-editing breakthrough he had claimed.
But the British researcher hit out at what he said was a dangerous experiment.
"It is certainly possible that he has put the children's lives at risk. No-one knows what these mutations will do," he said.
Mr He, who it's thought may have been able to fund the work through his own wealth, released a series of videos on YouTube in November in which he said his aim was to help families protect their children from diseases.
But scientists and institutions across the world have condemned Mr He and said any application of gene editing on human embryos for reproductive purposes violated medical ethics and possibly the law.
Professor Lovell-Badge said Mr He thought he was doing good and that he wanted to be "the next big thing".
"Here you have a physicist who knows little biology, is very rich, has a huge ego, wants to be the first at doing something that will change the world," he said.
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