Five years ago, scientist He Jiankui shocked his peers and the world with claims that he created the first genetically edited babies. Now, after serving three years in a Chinese prison for practicing medicine without a license, he faces obstacles and critics as he tries to re-enter science.
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From 2019: Here's what we know about the mystery surrounding China’s gene-edited babies
Here's what's known about the situation
He Jiankui has not been seen publicly since January, his work has not been published and nothing is known about the health of the babies.
"That's the story — it's all cloaked in secrecy, which is not productive for the advance of understanding," said Stanford bioethicist Dr. William Hurlbut.
FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo, He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, speaks during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong. Chinese scientist He Jiankui shocked the world by claiming he had helped make the first gene-edited babies. One year later, mystery surrounds his fate as well as theirs. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Where is He Jiankui?
He was last seen in early January in Shenzhen, on the balcony of an apartment at his university, which fired him from its faculty after his work became known. Armed guards were in the hall, leading to speculation he was under house arrest.
A few weeks later, China's official news agency said an investigation had determined that He acted alone out of a desire for fame and would be punished for any violations of law.
In this Oct. 10, 2018, photo, scientist He Jiankui looks at a computer screen while working at a lab in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong province. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Where are the babies?
The Chinese investigation seemed to confirm the existence of twin girls whose DNA He said he altered. The report said the twins and people involved in a second pregnancy using a gene-edited embryo would be monitored by government health departments. Nothing has been revealed about the third baby, which should have been born from that second pregnancy in late summer.
Chinese officials have seized the remaining edited embryos and He's lab records.
In this Oct. 9, 2018, photo, Zhou Xiaoqin installs a fine glass pipette into a sperm injection microscope in preparation for injecting embryos with Cas9 protein and PCSK9 sgRNA at a lab in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong province. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Who else was involved?
Rice University in Houston said it is still investigating the role of Michael Deem, whose name was on a paper He sent to a journal and who spoke with the AP about He’s work. Deem was He's adviser when He attended Rice years ago.
The AP and others have reported on additional scientists in the U.S. and China who knew or strongly suspected what He was doing.
FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 file photo, He Jiankui speaks during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong. On Tuesday, April 17, 2019, Stanford University said they had cleared three faculty members of any wrongdoing in dealings with He who claims to have helped make the world's first gene-edited babies. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
The science
Scientists recently have found new ways to alter genes that may be safer than CRISPR. Gene editing also is being tested against diseases in children and adults, which is not controversial because those changes don't pass to future generations. Some scientists think gene editing will become more widely accepted if it's proved to work in those situations.
"It's moving forward slowly because it's being done responsibly," Musunuru said.
Public opnion
A forum was held in Berkeley, California, last month to get public views on gene editing — everything from modifying mosquitoes and crops to altering embryos.
The National Academy of Sciences recently pulled a video it made after concern arose about how it portrayed the ethically dicey science and its possible use to make designer babies. The academy has been leading some efforts to set standards for gene editing, and it gets most of its funding from the government, although a private grant paid for the video, a spokeswoman said.
In this Oct. 9, 2018, photo, Zhou Xiaoqin, left, and Qin Jinzhou, an embryologist who were part of the team working with scientist He Jiankui, view a time lapse image of embryos on a computer screen at a lab in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong province. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Regulation
A moratorium is no longer strong enough, and regulation is needed, CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley recently wrote in a commentary in the journal Science.
She noted that the World Health Organization has asked regulators in all countries not to allow such experiments, and that a Russian scientist recently proposed one.
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2015, file photo, Jennifer Doudna, a University of California, Berkeley, co-inventor of the CRISPR gene-editing tool that He Jiankui used, speaks at the National Academy of Sciences international summit on the safety and ethics of human gene editing, in Washington. Six months after He was widely scorned for helping to make the world's first gene-edited babies, Doudna said that she has heard of others who want to edit embryos. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
