Mei's death from experimental gene therapy prompts ethics questions in China
TL;DR
Six-year-old Mei with a Rett-like Snijders Blok-Campeau syndrome died in March 2025 after participating in an experimental gene-therapy trial in China; Science and Retraction Watch report the trial violated ethical and safety rules, with Mei's parents funding a base-editing approach delivered by a viral vector, raising urgent questions about oversight and safety in biotech research in China.
Topics:healthscience#base-editing#china#ethics-in-biotech#gene-therapy#science#snijders-blok-campeau-syndrome
- In China, the hidden death of 'Mei', a 6-year-old girl, after gene therapy raises many questions Le Monde.fr
- Girl’s undisclosed death in gene-editing trial raises red flags in booming Chinese industry CNN
- 6-year-old girl dies after parents paid $860K for experimental therapy that ‘shouldn’t have gone to trial’ New York Post
- China biotech sector fears policy backlash after girl dies in gene-editing trial South China Morning Post
- Scandal Exposes Limits of China’s Scientific Rise Foreign Policy
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Read on Le Monde.fr