He Jiankui’s name became synonymous with scientific transgression when his secret experiment produced the world’s first gene-edited babies. After serving a prison sentence in China, he is back in the lab and now signals that he wants to push human gene editing toward a new frontier, this time wrapped in the language of medical rescue rather than radical experiment. The question is whether his promised sequel is a genuine course correction or a high-risk attempt to normalize the same instincts that shocked the world the first time.
His return comes at a moment when global regulators, ethicists, and industry leaders are trying to slow the most dangerous uses of CRISPR even as they race to develop therapies for devastating diseases. That tension makes He’s new ambitions more than a personal redemption story; they are a stress test for how far society is prepared to let one of its most controversial scientists go.
The architect of the first CRISPR babies
Before his fall, He Jiankui was a rising Chinese biophysicist who saw in CRISPR a tool to rewrite human destiny, not just treat disease. In August 2018, he met Chinese-American doctor John Zhang to discuss plans for a company focused on what they described as “genetic medical” ventures, a glimpse of how commercial ambition and scientific daring were already intertwined in his work, according to biographical records. That same year, he orchestrated the embryo editing that would lead to three children being born with altered genomes, a step far beyond what any formal ethics body had endorsed.
He used CRISPR to alter a gene linked to HIV susceptibility in human embryos, then arranged pregnancies that brought those edited embryos to term. The work was conducted in secrecy, bypassing standard oversight, and only became public after the births, triggering a global backlash that cast him as a cautionary tale rather than a pioneer. Chinese authorities eventually prosecuted him for illegal medical practices, and he served a prison sentence that was meant to signal that germline editing of future generations was off-limits, at least for now.
From prison to a new lab and a new pitch
Since his release in 2022, He has tried to recast himself as a scientist focused on treating, not redesigning, human life. He says he has been working on a gene therapy for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe muscle degeneration particularly in boys, and he has described this as a way to use his expertise for clear medical need rather than speculative enhancement, according to his own account of work on Duchenne. Yet he has not published peer-reviewed data on these efforts, leaving outsiders to rely largely on his descriptions of what is happening inside his lab.
He has also physically and professionally repositioned himself. Reports indicate that he has relocated to Hainan, China’s southernmost island province, and started a lab there, presenting the move as a fresh start in a region that Beijing is trying to develop as a medical and technology hub. During interviews, he has spoken about using CRISPR in controlled settings and has mentioned work on nonviable human embryos, which he frames as basic research rather than a prelude to more births, according to his own comments about his new base in Hainan. The narrative he offers is one of a chastened innovator who has learned from past mistakes but still believes his skills belong at the frontier of human genetics.
“No more gene-edited babies” – with a catch
Publicly, He now insists that he will not repeat his original experiment, at least not under current conditions. He Jiankui, the Chinese biophysicist whose controversial 2018 work led to the birth of three gene-edited children, has said there will be “no more gene-edited babies” until society is ready, casting his earlier actions as premature rather than fundamentally wrong, according to his own pledge to wait until society comes around. The phrasing matters: he is not renouncing germline editing as a category, but instead tying its legitimacy to a future shift in public and regulatory opinion.
At the same time, he has been giving interviews that suggest he is already sketching out the next chapter. In one conversation, he described using CRISPR in his new lab and emphasized that his current work is not on embryos destined for pregnancy, but on potential treatments for conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which he portrays as a moral imperative to address, according to his own explanation of using CRISPR. In another exchange, he framed his plans as a stepwise path back toward more ambitious interventions, telling an interviewer that he sees his current projects as part of a long-term effort to cure genetic disease, according to his own comments in an interview. The pattern is clear: he is promising restraint in the short term while keeping the door open to a future in which editing embryos for birth is once again on the table.
The new “sequel”: from babies to Alzheimer’s and beyond
What makes his latest plans so jarring is that they appear to move quickly from laboratory rehabilitation to another high-stakes human experiment. Recent reporting describes He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who previously edited embryos that became living children, now preparing a project that would involve editing embryos to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that devastates families but remains poorly understood in genetic terms, according to accounts that say he is planning another embryo-based intervention. He has reportedly not yet begun embryo experiments for this Alzheimer’s project, but the intent alone signals that he is again targeting traits that involve complex genetics and uncertain long-term effects.
He’s own description of his post-prison work shows how he is trying to build a bridge from accepted gene therapy to more controversial territory. Since his release, he says he has focused on a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, presenting it as a conventional medical program that could help boys facing progressive muscle degeneration, according to his account of work on Duchenne. In parallel, he has spoken about research on nonviable human embryos in Hainan, which he portrays as ethically distinct from implanting edited embryos but which also serves as a technical proving ground for the kind of germline changes that an Alzheimer’s prevention project would require, according to his own description of work in Hainan. The sequel he appears to be writing is not a simple repeat of the HIV experiment, but a more elaborate attempt to edit future children against late-life disease risk.
A global push for a pause collides with one man’s ambition
He’s renewed ambitions are unfolding against a backdrop of mounting calls to slow or halt germline editing altogether. Leading trade organizations representing the makers of cell and gene therapies have called for a 10-year international moratorium on germline gene editing with CRISPR, arguing that the risks to future generations remain unacceptable at this time and that the field should focus on treating existing patients instead, according to a joint appeal from leading scientific and industry groups. That stance reflects a broad consensus that while CRISPR has enormous promise for somatic therapies, editing embryos that will become children crosses a line that current science and oversight cannot safely manage.
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