Baby KJ appeared at a STAT event in October flanked by his parents and the scientists who treated him, Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas (far left) and Kiran Musunuru (far right).Jeff Pinette for STAT

Jason Mast is a general assignment reporter at STAT focused on the science behind new medicines and the systems and people that decide whether that science ever reaches patients. You can reach Jason on Signal at JasonMast.05.

The scientists behind treating Baby KJ say they’ve hit a stumbling block in their efforts to create more custom gene editing treatments for children with rare diseases.

Food and Drug Administration reviewers, they say, are imposing high manufacturing and quality control standards that could make it too expensive and complicated for them — or any academics — to bring such bespoke therapies to approval.

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Instead, they warned, such efforts could require the resources of industry.

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