Story perspectives

Gene-Editing Company Deaths Raise Safety Questions in China

8/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

Karoly Nikolich said nervous-system gene-editing therapies need up to five years before human trials.
A six-year-old girl died in March 2025 days after viral particles were injected into her spine at Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai, a finding reported by Science and Retraction Watch.
Investigator-initiated trials in China lack drug-regulator approval.
A boy died in Shanghai in August 2025 after receiving HuidaGene Therapeutics’ CRISPR therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Story summary

Karoly Nikolich said nervous-system gene-editing therapies need up to five years before human trials.
A six-year-old girl died in March 2025 days after viral particles were injected into her spine at Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai, a finding reported by Science and Retraction Watch.
Investigator-initiated trials in China lack drug-regulator approval.
A boy died in Shanghai in August 2025 after receiving HuidaGene Therapeutics’ CRISPR therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.