‘CRISPR babies’ scientist He Jiankui among Time’s 100 most influential people

Time magazine just released its 100 most influential people list for 2019, and it contains some notable names in health and medicine. The most recognizable is perhaps He Jiankui, who shocked the biomedical world last year when he announced that he had used CRISPR to edit the genomes of twin girls while they were still embryos. In her writeup on He, CRISPR co-creator Jennifer Doudna describes his experiment as “reckless” and “medically unnecessary.” Here’s who else made the list:

• Dr. Leana Wen: the newest president of Planned Parenthood, and the first physician to lead the organization in nearly 50 years.
• Barbara Rae-Venter: the genetic genealogist whose work helped crack the case of the Golden State Killer.
• Grainne Griffin, Ailbhe Smyth, and Orla O'Connor: the three co-directors of the Together for Yes campaign, which led the effort that repealed Ireland’s near-total ban on abortion last year.
• Adam Bowen and James Monsees: the co-creators of the controversial e-cigarette Juul.