A 6-year-old girl was given a first-of-its-kind gene therapy in a hospital in China for a nonlethal condition. Within a week, she was dead.
Her death was never publicly disclosed by the scientists who developed and administered her experimental gene therapy. But now, more than a year after her death, her parents are telling her story in the hope that others will be spared the same fate.
A new joint investigation from Science and Retraction Watch, published July 23, details the case of "Mei," a young girl given gene therapy in March 2025 at Xinhua Hospital, which is affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. (Mei's parents asked that the family's names be changed for the report. Her name was changed to Mei, which is Chinese for "beautiful," and they are referred to as "Jason" and "Linda.")
English (US)