He changed the DNA of two baby girls. He went to prison. Now he wants to continue his research.
He Jiankui is the Chinese geneticist who announced to the world the birth of the first humans with edited DNA. Not to cure an existing illness, but to make them resistant to HIV. A decision that bypassed laws, ignored every ethical principle, and crossed a line many thought was untouchable.
The response? A three-year prison sentence.
Today, he’s back. With a new lab in Beijing and a stated plan: to keep working on gene therapy and rare genetic diseases. But the real issue isn’t what he says he wants to do. It’s what could happen if no one sets clear limits.
We live in a time where technology has gone faster than our ability to manage it. Rewriting the code of life isn’t a theory anymore—it’s a real possibility. And when you can edit an embryo before it’s even born, the issue stops being just scientific. It becomes political, social, cultural.
It becomes human.
Jiankui’s return to the academic world, without major backlash, shows just how much context matters. In some parts of the world, actions like his are tolerated if they promise results. Even if they involve huge risks. Even if they open the door to unpredictable consequences.
The real danger isn’t just wild experiments. It’s that it all becomes normal. That editing DNA turns into just another tool—marketed as progress.
And then who sets the limits?
When we talk about changing human genetics, the line between healing and upgrading is dangerously thin. And once someone shows it’s possible, someone else will do it again. Maybe with different goals. Maybe with fewer scruples.
We need shared responsibility. A global rethink—before the genetics race turns today’s exceptions into tomorrow’s rules.
Jiankui says he won’t edit embryos again.
But he’s already shown that it can be done.
Now it’s up to us to decide:
Will we be the guardians of this future—or just spectators?
