Reports: Chinese researcher who claimed to have gene-edited babies goes missing

He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, speaks Wednesday during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong. He has reportedly been missing since his Wednesday appearance. He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, speaks Wednesday during the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong. He has reportedly been missing since his Wednesday appearance. Photo: Kin Cheung /Associated Press Photo: Kin Cheung /Associated Press Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Reports: Chinese researcher who claimed to have gene-edited babies goes missing 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

A Chinese researcher has gone missing a week after announcing he successfully edited the DNA of babies, Chinese media reports.

Researcher He Jiankui said last week that he had altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments. He said two of the edited embryos were born healthy twin baby girls. Their DNA had been altered to try to make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus. There is no independent confirmation of what He says he did.

Over the weekend, reports emerged in Chinese media that He was being kept under house arrest. He was last seen Wednesday during an appearance at a conference in Hong Kong.

He's employer, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, denied reports that the scientist was detained.

"Right now nobody's information is accurate, only the official channels are," a spokesperson told the South China Morning Post. She refused to comment further.

China's government ordered a halt on the work of He and his team on Thursday.

Vice Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping told state broadcaster CCTV Thursday that his ministry is strongly opposed to the efforts that reportedly produced twin girls born earlier this month. Xu called the team's actions illegal and unacceptable and said an investigation had been ordered. Mainstream scientists have also condemned the experiment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

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