Controversy of the year. Biomedical ethics on the front burner.

CONTROVERSY OF THE YEAR: Biomedical Ethics on the Front Burner It was a hot year for debates over research ethics. Controversy erupted in late 1999 after the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger in a gene-therapy clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania. Because Penn and one of its clinicians had a financial stake in a gene-therapy company, questions about potential conflicts of interest arose at once.