The field of gene therapy has become so dominated by commercial investment and potential conflicts of interest that many scientists question whether current federal oversight of the research can protect patients from harm or misleading information. Ties binding academic scientists, universities and private companies also may have contributed to the first death, in September, caused by an experimental gene injection - and to the widespread withholding of information by researchers about the damaging effects of gene therapy. Without changes in federal oversight and perhaps new rules on conflicts of interest, more deaths could occur, and information about risks may continue to be withheld, many experts agree.
Gene therapy has many of the worst examples of clinical research that exist.
The meeting marked a historic reunion of the 1975 Asilomar conference, where scientists produced a voluntary consensus that has since guided conduct and policy on DNA research. Many scientists at the new Asilomar found it distressing to be faced with the death of Jesse Gelsinger after a quarter-century of relative safety and integrity in genetic engineering. James Wilson at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the study in which Gelsinger died, holds the largest number. Rebecca Eisenberg, professor of law at the University of Michigan, said universities license the patents to existing companies or back to the researchers, who start their own companies. The MTAs delay research and create complicated business relationships, Eisenberg said.