A Chinese scientist who created the world’s first “gene-edited” babies has been sentenced to three years in prison for illegally practising medicine and violating the country’s medical regulations and ethics.

He Jiankui, then an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in southern China’s Shenzhen province made a splash in November 2018 when he said that he had used gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to change the genes of twin girls to protect them from getting infected with the AIDS virus in the future.

Chinese researcher He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan for illegally carrying out human embryo gene-editing intended for reproduction, in which three genetically edited babies were born, a court in south China’s Shenzhen city said Monday.

“The Nanshan District People’s Court of Shenzhen said He, former associate professor with the Southern University of Science and Technology, and two others were convicted of illegal medical practice,” the Xinhua report said.The verdict added that their acts were “in the pursuit of personal fame and gain” and had seriously “disrupted medical order.”

“The three accused did not have the proper certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment,” the court said, according to Xinhua.

Following He’s claim last year, the national health commission, China’s top health supervisory body had immediately launched an investigation, saying it had directed local authorities to investigate the experiment and He’s claims.