Recently, science journalists published investigations addressing the issue of haste in the development of gene therapies. The concern centers on the drift of a global race for innovation in this field, which notably led to the deaths of two children in China in 2025.
Two Very Concerning Cases
Brendan Borrell is an independent science journalist based in Los Angeles. He works for Retraction Watch, a media outlet focused on tracking the retractions of scientific papers, academic fraud, and research ethics. The reporter drew attention with an article published in the journal Science in July 2026, about the haste in the development of gene therapies.
In 2025, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) attempted to use an evolution of the CRISPR molecular scissors—the “base editing.” The patient was a six-year-old girl with Snijders-Blok-Campeau syndrome, a form of a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. In this particular case, the illness resulted from a mutation in the MECP2 gene. The cutting-edge technology used aimed to directly correct the mutation in her brain, via an injection of viral-vector into the cerebrospinal fluid.
That same year, a boy whose age remains unknown was treated by the Chinese biotech company HuidaGene Therapeutics. The child suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a severe genetic neuromuscular disease causing progressive degeneration of all muscles in the body. The company used the experimental treatment HG302, a high-dose gene therapy delivered systemically—throughout the entire body—to restore dystrophin production, the protein essential for muscle function.
Rushing, Informal Financial Arrangements, and Opacity
In both cases, the massive overdosage of viruses required to deliver these therapies unfortunately triggered a fulminant and fatal immune reaction. Both children died— the girl within less than a week, a detail also unknown for the boy’s case. For Brendan Borrell, the two cases are characterized by a rush of clinical trials, which researchers describe as development via “fast-tracked” routes. In reality, the events were accelerated due to the immense distress of the parents, who had previously faced numerous medical dead ends.
To be precise, for the six-year-old girl, the parents themselves funded the research with more than $800,000. Moreover, there were informal financial arrangements entirely lacking ethical safeguards. Also, the Chinese researchers had published their results earlier in 2026 without mentioning the girl’s death. As for the boy’s case, HuidaGene Therapeutics largely maintained opacity in its communications, before, during, and after the trials.
How is the Chinese Government Responding?
These cases are more than worrying, given that clinical trials approved via fast-track have risen from around twenty to more than two hundred between 2015 and 2023. While this enthusiasm signals China’s growing role in biomedical research, the risk of drift is exceptionally alarming. Some observers speak of a grey market and facilities charging enormous sums for non-authorized therapies.
Finally, science journalist Rachel Fieldhouse published an article in Nature News on September 8, 2026. She reported that the Chinese government has already tightened the rules governing rapid-pathway therapies. She also interviewed several experts who expect the authorities to temporarily halt gene-therapy clinical trials.
