A six-year-old girl, Mei, died in early 2025 after receiving personalised gene therapy from Zilong Qiu, a Shanghai-based neuroscientist, for $860,000. The treatment, a world-first base-editing approach targeting the CHD3 gene, triggered a catastrophic immune reaction causing fatal blood clotting. A joint investigation by Science magazine and Retraction Watch revealed that Mei's family were not informed of death risks or safety concerns flagged in earlier animal tests.

Qiu later published a paper in Nature describing animal experiments but omitting the human trial and its tragic outcome. Nature's deputy editor, Victoria Aranda, said the journal was "shocked" and will take editorial action. The case raises serious ethical concerns, with experts questioning whether animal data justified proceeding.

It echoes the 2019 scandal of He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist jailed for creating genome-edited babies. The episode underscores the need for transparency as genetic medicine advances.