CRISPR Use Could Lead to "Organic" Gene Therapies for Blood Disorders

Scientists in Australia have solved a 50-year-old mystery that could lead to the development of new gene therapies for blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. The team, led by University of New South Wales (UNSW) professor Merlin Crossley, Ph.D., has identified the gene-control mechanism that allows some individuals with these blood disorders to keep producing a fetal form of human hemoglobin, which naturally compensates for the lack of adult hemoglobin and so reduces