Beijing —
A top Chinese medical university is investigating the death of a young girl in an experimental gene-editing trial conducted by a leading expert at its affiliated hospital that has raised serious concerns about ethics in China’s booming biomedical industry.
Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine said it has established a working group to “conduct a comprehensive investigation” into the clinical trial carried out last year in Xinhua Hospital and a related scientific paper.
The announcement came days after US-based Science magazine and science accountability publication Retraction Watch released a joint report detailing the botched clinical trial that was partially funded by the girl’s parents, who say they paid $860,000 for the development of the treatment.
The girl’s parents told the outlets that doctors didn’t warn them that their daughter could die and had hoped the treatment would correct a gene defect behind developmental delays they worried would affect her in later life.
