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The unit that ran the gene therapy trial during which 18-year-old Jesse
Gelsinger died last year will no longer carry out clinical studies. The
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia announced last week that its
Institute for Human Gene Therapy, directed by James Wilson, will now concentrate
on basic research. The decision comes as a serious blow to an institute that
once led the world in moving gene therapy from the lab to the clinic. Wilson
said in a statement that the institute would develop “a foundation of science
necessary to assure the ultimate success of this field.”