【Wish&Ethics（倫理と希望）】What CRISPR-baby prison sentences mean for research

〔Chinese court sends strong signal by punishing He Jiankui and two colleagues. 〕

A Chinese court has sentenced He Jiankui, the biophysicist who announced that he had created the world’s first gene-edited babies,
to three years in prison for “illegal medical practice”, and handed down shorter sentences to two colleagues who assisted him.

The punishments put to rest speculation over whether the Chinese government would bring criminal charges for an act that shocked the world, and are likely to deter others from similar behaviour, say Chinese scientists.

There has been much speculation about whether other scientists would follow in He‘s footsteps, especially given the ease of using the most popular gene-editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9.
But the punishments are “definitely a deterrent to similar misconduct in China”, says Wei Wensheng, a gene-editing researcher at Peking University in Beijing.

On 30 December, the People’s Court of Nanshan District of Shenzhen announced that, in the pursuit of “fame and profit”,
He and two colleagues had flouted regulations and research and medical ethics by altering genes in human embryos that were then implanted into two women, according to Xinhua News Agency.
One woman gave birth to twin girls in late 2018; the court said a third baby has been born but did not say when, a revelation that fits with a claim made by He in November 2018 to have implanted a gene-edited embryo in a second woman.

The court fined He 3 million yuan (US$430,000). Collaborators Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou received lesser prison sentences and fines.

The health ministry has also banned the researchers from ever working with human reproductive technology again, and the science ministry has banned them from applying for research funding, according to Xinhua.

Scientists in China who are currently researching CRISPR for its potential to treat various genetic diseases by modifying cells other than embryos say that they fear He's actions might have a chilling effect on their work too, even though it is not as ethically fraught.

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《Preliminary stage》
He shocked the world’s scientists in November 2018 when he announced that his team at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen had used the CRISPR gene-editing system to edit DNA in human embryos to make them less susceptible to contracting HIV.
The edits were designed to disrupt a gene that codes for a protein that allows HIV to enter immune cells.

Scientists condemned He’s actions, saying that gene-editing technology was too premature to be used for reproductive purposes.
They also said the experiment was problematic because it risked introducing a mutation with potentially harmful effects while offering little benefit — the babies were not at high risk of contracting HIV.
In the wake of the scandal, researchers called for a moratorium on gene editing in embryos and germline cells.

At the time, Chinese law academics told Nature that He could face a range of criminal charges, including practising medicine without adequate qualifications,
which can be punished by up to ten years in prison, forging ethics documents and skirting laws banning the use of assisted reproductive technologies in people with HIV.
He was fired by his university in January last year.

The court’s announcement puts to rest suspicions by some researchers that the government would not bring criminal case against He because of the increased media attention it would generate, says・・・以下略。

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【記事元：Nature NEWS ⇒ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00001-y】