By Rob Stein
Victoria Gray, who underwent a landmark treatment for sickle cell disease last year, has been at home in Forest, Miss., with her three kids, Jadasia Wash (left), Jamarius Wash (second from left) and Jaden Wash.
Like millions of other Americans, (click here) Victoria Gray has been sheltering at home with her children as the U.S. struggles through a deadly pandemic, and as protests over police violence have erupted across the country.
But Gray is not like any other American. She's the first person with a genetic disorder to get treated in the United States with the revolutionary gene-editing technique called CRISPR.
And as the one-year anniversary of her landmark treatment approaches, Gray has just received good news: The billions of genetically modified cells doctors infused into her body clearly appear to be alleviating virtually all the complications of her disorder, sickle cell disease.
"It's wonderful. It's the change I've been waiting on my whole life," Gray told NPR, which has had exclusive access to chronicle her experience over the past year.
Sickle cell disease, a rare blood disorder that disproportionately affects African Americans in the U.S., can be difficult to treat effectively....
CRISPR - Gene Editing
The first genome (click here) editing technologies were developed in the late 1900s. More recently, a new genome editing tool called CRISPR, invented in 2009, has made it easier than ever to edit DNA. CRISPR is simpler, faster, cheaper, and more accurate than older genome editing methods. Many scientists who perform genome editing now use CRISPR.
It is okay to smile. This is for real.
Sickle cell disease (click here) is a group of disorders that affects hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. People with this disorder have atypical hemoglobin molecules called hemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells into a sickle, or crescent, shape....
...Sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affecting 70,000 to 80,000 Americans. The disease is estimated to occur in 1 in 500 African Americans and 1 in 1,000 to 1,400 Hispanic Americans....
