This is an exclusive report from Science News’, jointly organized with Retraction Watch, on a gene editing tragedy.
The tragedy involved two parents paying $860,000 to partially fund an unapproved clinical trial of 1 to save their daughter from a rare neurodevelopmental disease, the work being done by a superstar researcher in China working at a highly prestigious research hospital, the girl subsequently dying because the research behind the trial was shoddy, and the death of the girl being buried. The research behind this was subsequently published in Nature, but the human trial component was completely erased.
This might shape up to be one of the largest gene editing scandals for a while
Try this Wayback Machine link if you are paywalled
There’s also a brief follow-up article by Science News
Can they edit the depression and OCD out of my genes?
Maybe yes, maybe no, but they definitely can make you die from immune reponse though.
That would be a sucky way to die, no doubt.
Nah, genes only define (among other factors) how likely you are to suffer it.
Yes but it might kill you
Thar’s not such a deal breaker for depression
Wouldn’t that be nice? No more med combos!
Wasn’t even a deadly disease. I’m all for gen editing since it has potential to save lives but killing a 6 year because you would rather risk it than have an intellectually disabled child seems a bit intense.
They paid like 800k for it so this very much feels like “I’m rich enough not to have to deal with the shame my child will bring me”. They should of just accepted her, what she had was basically down syndrome.
I mean… the researchers lied to the parents about the risks. How are parents supposed to make an informed decision with false information.
…Qiu and his team downplayed the trial’s risks in describing them to the parents, overlooked safety signals in animal studies, and proceeded even though success was unlikely. “This shouldn’t have gone to trial,” says Steven Gray of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center… … “Learning the reality of these missing safeguards has fundamentally changed how we now view the entire project,” says the father… “We did not realize how unusual and dangerous many of the arrangements were.
Good money in anti-china news these days… Narratives seem to be turned on/off like a faucet…
And you claim everyone else is a victim of propaganda.
The hypocrisy is pretty funny.
One research team breaking / bending the rules to do unethical experiments isn’t ‘anti-China news’. Although there could be a bit of Science taking Nature down a peg in the article.
No, but when there’s a consistent sinophobic sentiment and people keep putting China in the title despite it not being in the title of article nor relevant to the subject…
Some Chinese institution: lies
Some journalist: Points it out
Chinese government: “Stop spreading these baseless lies about us!”
This guy: “There sure is a lot of Sinophobia around here these days!”
