He Jiankui, former associate professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, was convicted of illegal medical practice on December 30, 2019.

In November 2018, he declared the birth of the world's first gene-edited babies with their DNA altered to prevent them from contracting HIV. The news stunned the scientific community and prompted an immediate investigation by authorities.

The trial was held in the district court in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in south China. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan ($430,000) for illegally carrying out human embryo gene editing intended for reproduction. Two of his colleagues from different medical institutions received jail terms of two years and 18 months, respectively, as well as fines.

They violated regulations and ethical principles and they were not qualified to work as medical doctors. All three's acts were deemed "in pursuit of personal fame and gain" and described as seriously "disrupting the medical order" by the court.