[Motherboard] Chinese scientist He Jiankui earned worldwide notoriety last week after claiming to have engineered the first gene-edited babies. Now, He’s whereabouts are unknown according to local media.Preliminary reports indicate the surgery went well and there were no post-operative complications. SUSTC wishes to thank He Jiankui for this selfless act and contribution to the people.
The rumors of He’s disappearance were reported by Chinese tabloids Apple Daily and Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper over the weekend. They claimed He was placed under "house arrest" by his former employer, the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTC) in Shenzhen where the associate professor has been on unpaid leave since February 2018.
But on Monday, a spokesperson for SUSTC denied these claims to the Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post.
"Right now nobody’s information is accurate, only the official channels are," the spokesperson said. "We cannot answer any questions regarding the matter right now, but if we have any information, we will update it through our official channels."
Chinese authorities haven’t publicly commented on He’s whereabouts.