Death of Girl After Experimental Gene Therapy in China Revealed

A six-year-old Chinese girl died in March 2025 after receiving an experimental CRISPR-based gene therapy for a rare neurological disorder, an investigation by Science and Retraction Watch has revealed. Her death was allegedly concealed by the researchers and the hospital for over a year. Source: abc.es

The Treatment

The girl, identified as Mei, suffered from Snijders-Blok-Campeau syndrome, a condition caused by a mutation in the CHD3 gene. Her parents raised approximately $860,000 to fund a personalized therapy developed by neuroscientist Zilong Qiu at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The therapy used base editors delivered via adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) directly into her cerebrospinal fluid. Source: infobae, elconfidencial

• A massive dose of billions of viral particles was injected to ensure delivery to brain cells. Source: abc.es
• Prior animal tests had shown signs of liver and kidney toxicity in monkeys, but these warnings were allegedly ignored. Source: infobae

The Death and Cover-Up

Seven days after the infusion, Mei died from a severe immune reaction (thrombotic microangiopathy) directly linked to the viral vector. Source: abc.es Instead of reporting the death, the research team:

• Failed to update the clinical trial registry (clinicaltrials.gov) after March 2025. Source: infobae