A Chinese gene scientist has found himself embroiled in controversy recently, after a sudden rise to fame just two months ago.

Han Chunyu, an associate professor at Hebei University of Science and Technology, became prominent in May for the publication of a reportedly cutting-edge gene editing technique known as NgAgo. The new technology was reported as outperforming the current mainstream gene-editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9. Some called his findings worthy of a Nobel Prize.

But peer scientists have recently cast doubts about the viability of the research, saying Han's results cannot be replicated. Gaetan Burgio, the head of the transgenesis lab at Australian National University, said his lab cannot reproduce Han's results and asked for disclosure of more details and data regarding the research. The request has been echoed by some other international and Chinese researchers.

Nature Biotechnology, which published Han's paper in May, said on Wednesday that it would investigate the findings, as it had been contacted by several researchers who said they had not been able to reproduce Han's results.

Discussions about Han's research and the myth around it are still brewing in the Chinese scientific community.

But the limelight is not only about science. Since Han rose to fame in May, mainstream Chinese media have poured laudations on the research, saying that it would "break the monopoly of foreign genome editing techniques." Science and technology have not been a traditional strong suit in China, and the country is eager to compete with other countries in the field.

The scientist himself has also been at the center of laudations. He has been described as an other-worldly person who made the achievement while working in modest labs. Some called him "a scholar with three have-nots," namely, one who is not a graduate from a prestigious university, has no fame and holds no senior position -- a stark contrast with most famous scientists in China, who often attend top global universities and have plenty of grant money to spend on research.

Han said his research findings are tenable and "have been reproduced in his lab a dozen times," according to a latest report by Xinhua.

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