He Jiankui
Chinese scientist (born 1984) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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He Jiankui ([xɤ̂ tɕjɛ̂nkʰwěɪ]; Chinese: 贺建奎; 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.[2][3][4] 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.[5]
He Jiankui | |||||||||
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贺建奎 | |||||||||
Born | 1984 (age 39–40) Xinhua County, Hunan, China | ||||||||
Alma mater | University of Science and Technology of China (BS) Rice University (PhD) | ||||||||
Known for | He Jiankui affair | ||||||||
Scientific career | |||||||||
Fields | Biophysics | ||||||||
Institutions | Southern University of Science and Technology | ||||||||
Thesis | Spontaneous Emergence of Hierarchy in Biological Systems (2011) | ||||||||
Doctoral advisor | Michael W. Deem | ||||||||
Other academic advisors | Stephen Quake[1] | ||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 贺建奎 | ||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 賀建奎 | ||||||||
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In November 2018 he announced that he had created the first human genetically edited babies,[6][7] twin girls who were born in mid-October 2018 and known by their pseudonyms, Lulu and Nana.[8][9][5][1] The announcement was initially praised in the press as a major scientific advancement.[10] But following scrutiny on how the experiment was executed, He received widespread condemnation.[5][11][12] His research activities were suspended by the Chinese authorities on 29 November 2018,[13] and he was fired by SUSTech on 21 January 2019.[14] On 30 December 2019, Chinese court sentenced He to three years of imprisonment and a three-million-yuan fine.[15] He was released from prison in April 2022.[16]
He was listed as one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2019, in the section "Pioneers".[17] At the same time he was variously referred to as a "rogue scientist",[18] "China's Dr. Frankenstein",[19] and a "mad genius".[20]