Scientist behind fake HIV breakthrough sentenced to prison after spiking results

Dong-Pyou Han, who spiked rabbit blood with human antibodies to suggest major progress toward a vaccine, must pay $7.2m to US government

A former Iowa State University scientist who altered blood samples to make it appear he had achieved a breakthrough toward a potential vaccine against HIV was sentenced on Wednesday to more than four and a half years in prison for making false statements in research reports.

Dong-Pyou Han, 58, also must pay $7.2m to a federal government agency that funded the research. He entered a plea agreement in February admitting guilt to two counts of making false statements.