He Jiankui

In this Chinese name, the family name is Hè (贺).
He Jiankui
贺建奎
He in 2018
Born1984 (age 39–40)
Xinhua County, Hunan, China
Alma materUniversity of Science and Technology of China (BS)
Rice University (PhD)
Known forHe Jiankui affair
Scientific career
FieldsBiophysics
InstitutionsSouthern University of Science and Technology
ThesisSpontaneous Emergence of Hierarchy in Biological Systems (2011)
Doctoral advisorMichael W. Deem
Other academic advisorsStephen Quake[1]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese贺建奎
Traditional Chinese賀建奎
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHè Jiànkuí
IPA[xɤ̂ tɕjɛ̂nkʰwěɪ]

He Jiankui ([xɤ̂ tɕjɛ̂nkʰwěɪ]; 贺建奎; born 1984) is a Chinese biophysicist. He was named as the inaugural director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine at Wuchang Technical College, a private undergraduate college in Wuhan, in September 2023.[2] Before January 2019, He served as associate professor at the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.[3][4][5] Earning a PhD from Rice University in Texas on protein evolution, including that of CRISPR, He learned gene-editing techniques (CRISPR/Cas9) as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California.[6]

In November 2018, He announced that he had created the first human genetically edited babies,[7][8] twin girls who were born in mid-October 2018 and known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana.[9][10][6][1] The announcement was initially praised in the press as a major scientific advancement.[11] But following scrutiny on how the experiment was executed, He received widespread condemnation.[6][12][13] His research activities were suspended by the Chinese authorities on 29 November 2018,[14] and he was fired by SUSTech on 21 January 2019.[15] On 30 December 2019, a Chinese district court found He Jiankui guilty of illegal practice of medicine, sentencing him to three years in prison with a fine of 3 million yuan.[16] He was released from prison in April 2022.[17]

He was listed as one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2019, in the section "Pioneers".[18] At the same time he was variously referred to as a "rogue scientist",[19] "China's Dr. Frankenstein",[20] and a "mad genius".[21]

  1. ^ a b Bulluck, Pam (14 April 2019). "Gene-Edited Babies: What a Chinese Scientist Told an American Mentor". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  2. ^ "武昌理工学院成立基因药物研究所". hb.people.com.cn. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  3. ^ Cohen, Jon (1 August 2019). "The untold story of the 'circle of trust' behind the world's first gene-edited babies". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aay9400. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Jiankui He（Nonpaid Leave）- Department of Biology". bio.sustc.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. ^ Rana, Preetika (10 May 2019). "How a Chinese Scientist Broke the Rules to Create the First Gene-Edited Babies - Dr. He Jiankui, seeking glory for his nation and justice for HIV-positive parents, kept his experiment secret, ignored peers' warnings and faked a test (Paywall)". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Begley, Sharon; Joseph, Andrew (17 December 2018). "The CRISPR shocker: How genome-editing scientist He Jiankui rose from obscurity to stun the world". Stat News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20190128 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The scientist who created CRISPR babies is on Time's most-influential list—but not in a good way". MIT Technology Review. 18 April 2019. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  9. ^ Begley, Sharon (28 November 2018). "Amid uproar, Chinese scientist defends creating gene-edited babies". STAT News. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  10. ^ 复盘贺建奎的人生轨迹：是谁给了他勇气 (in Chinese). sina.com.cn. 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  11. ^ Li, Jing-ru; Walker, Simon; Nie, Jing-bao; Zhang, Xin-qing (2019). "Experiments that led to the first gene-edited babies: the ethical failings and the urgent need for better governance". Journal of Zhejiang University Science B. 20 (1): 32–38. doi:10.1631/jzus.B1800624. PMC 6331330. PMID 30614228.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20181205 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Dvorsky, George (30 April 2019). "Substandard, Superficial, and Absurd: Experts Slam the Science Behind the CRISPR Baby Experiment". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  14. ^ Jiang, Steven; Regan, Helen; Berlinger, Joshua (29 November 2018). "China suspends scientists who claim to have produced first gene-edited babies". CNN News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters-20190121 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ ""基因编辑婴儿"案贺建奎已释放，曾获刑三年". finance.sina.com.cn. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  17. ^ "The creator of the CRISPR babies has been released from a Chinese prison". 4 April 2022. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  18. ^ Doudna, Jennifer (18 April 2019). "100 Most Influential People - He Jiankui". Time. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  19. ^ Cohen, Jon (2 August 2019). "Inside the circle of trust". Science. 365 (6452): 430–437. Bibcode:2019Sci...365..430C. doi:10.1126/science.365.6452.430. PMID 31371593.
  20. ^ Yan, Sophia (28 November 2018). "China's 'Dr Frankenstein' says second woman in early pregnancy with gene-edited babies". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  21. ^ Low, Zoe (27 November 2018). "China's gene editing Frankenstein had dreams of being Chinese Einstein". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.