Chinese University Investigates Gene Therapy Death of Six-Year-Old Girl
Shanghai's Jiaotong University is investigating a failed experimental gene therapy that led to the death of a six-year-old girl named 'Mei' in 2025. The girl suffered from a rare genetic disease causing cognitive developmental delays. Her parents paid over 700,000 euros for the untested treatment, which involved an infusion into the spinal area intended to deliver therapy to the brain. The girl died about a week after the procedure. Lead researcher Zilong Qiu published a related article in the journal Nature about animal experiments but did not mention Mei's death. The investigation was prompted by a joint report from Science magazine and Retraction Watch, which also noted that the parents were not adequately informed of the risks. The university stated it 'firmly rejects' unethical medical research and will take strict measures depending on the investigation's outcome.
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Reports are grouped by semantic similarity and deterministic rules. Language models may assist titles, summaries, translation and cross-source analysis; the page itself is projected from evidence records.
- Current automated evidence projection