He Jiankui

He Jiankui (born 1984) is a Chinese biophysicist who was an associate professor in the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China.

Earning his Ph.D. 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.

Born in Xinhua County, Loudi, Hunan in 1984, He Jiankui was educated at the University of Science and Technology of China (a member of the elite C9 league universities in China) as an undergraduate student from 2002 to 2006.

He entered Rice University in 2007 and received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Physics and Astronomy under the supervision of Michael W. Deem in 2010.

After He's Ph.D., Deem arranged for He to work on CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique as a postdoc fellow with Stephen Quake at Stanford University.

In 2010, at Rice University, He Jiankui and Michael W. Deem published a paper describing some details of the CRISPR protein; this paper was part of the early work on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, before it had been adopted as a gene editing tool.

In 2011, He received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad while still in the United States.

Responding to an ad, He returned to China in 2012 under the city of Shenzhen's Peacock Plan and opened a lab at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech).

As part of the program, he was given 1 million yuan (about US$ in 2012) in angel funding, which he used to start biotech and investment companies.

He founded Direct Genomics in 2012 in Shenzhen, to develop single-molecule sequencing devices based on patents invented by Quake that had formerly been licensed by Helicos Biosciences.

Direct Genomics received 40 million yuan (about US$ in 2012) in subsidies from Shenzhen, and raised hundreds of millions yuan more in private investment, but He sold his stake in 2019.

He also founded Vienomics Biotech, which offers genome sequencing services for people with cancer.

In 2017, He was included in the Chinese government's Thousand Talents Plan.

In 2017, He gave a presentation at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory describing work he did at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), in which he used CRISPR/Cas9 on mice, monkeys, and around 300 human embryos.

He Jiankui became widely known in November 2018 after he announced that he had created the first human genetically edited babies, twin girls who were born in mid-October 2018 and known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana.

The announcement was initially praised in the press as a major scientific advancement.

But following scrutiny on how the experiment was executed, He received widespread condemnation.

His research activities were suspended by the Chinese authorities on 29 November 2018, and he was fired by SUSTech on 21 January 2019.

In August 2018, He met with Chinese-American doctor John Zhang to discuss plans to launch a company focused on "genetic medical tourism."

The business was to target elite customers, operating out of China or Thailand.

The business plans were shelved with He's detainment in November 2018.

He took an unpaid leave from SUSTech starting in February 2018, and began conducting the genome-editing clinical experiment.

On 26 November 2018, he announced the birth of gene-edited human babies, Lulu and Nana.

Three days later, on 29 November 2018, Chinese authorities suspended all of his research activities, saying that his work was "extremely abominable in nature" and a violation of Chinese law.

In December 2018, following public outcry regarding his work, He appeared to have gone missing.

SUSTech denied the widespread rumors that he had been detained.

On 25 November 2018, He Jiankui first announced on YouTube that his team successfully created the world's first genome-edited babies, Lulu and Nana.

Formally presenting the story at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) three days later, he said that the twins were born from genetically modified embryos that were made resistant to M-tropic strains of HIV.

His team recruited 8 couples consisting each of HIV-positive father and HIV-negative mother through Beijing-based HIV volunteer group called Baihualin China League.

During in vitro fertilization, the sperms were cleansed of HIV.

Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing, they introduced a natural mutation CCR5-Δ32 in gene called CCR5, which would confer resistance to M-tropic HIV infection.

On 30 December 2019, Chinese court sentenced He to three years of imprisonment and a three-million-yuan fine.

He was released from prison in April 2022.

He was listed as one of Time 100 most influential people of 2019, in the section "Pioneers".

At the same time he was variously referred to as a "rogue scientist", "China's Dr. Frankenstein", and a "mad genius".

He Jiankui's achievements were widely revered in Chinese media, including China Central Television and the People's Daily which covered his research and described him as "the founding father of third-generation genome editing" during a program celebrating the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

On 30 December 2019, the Shenzhen Nanshan District People's Court sentenced He Jiankui to three years in prison and a fine of three million yuan (about US$ in 2019).

He Jiankui was released in April 2022 after serving the term.

In January 2019, scientists in China reported the creation of five identical cloned gene-edited monkeys, using the same cloning technique that was used with Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua – the first ever cloned monkeys - and Dolly the sheep, and the same gene-editing CRISPR/Cas9 technique allegedly used by He in creating the first ever gene-modified human babies Lulu and Nana.

The monkey clones were made in order to study several medical diseases.