First sickle-cell patient treated with CRISPR now 100% symptom free
From discovery to treatment took just 7 years
Longevity Hound
April 06, 2023
Victoria Gray (middle), speaking at at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing.
Who we're talking about: Victoria Gray, who in 2019 became the first person ever to be treated for sickle cell disease using CRISPR.
And the news is: Today, all of Gray's symptoms are gone. In fact, she was in London last month to speak about her experience at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing.
"The life that I once felt like I was only existing in, I am now thriving in. I stand here before you today as proof that miracles still happen — and that God and science can coexist."
Why this is a big deal: More than 20 million people have sickle cell disease worldwide. Average life expectancy is just 42 years for men and 48 years for women. Patients experience severe fatigue, bouts of extreme pain, frequent infections, and swelling of hands and feet.
Sickle cell disease is caused by a single, specific gene alteration. Today, this gene can be edited and replaced throughout the body with CRISPR. That fact is simply amazing, particularly considering that CRISPR was proposed as a gene-editing technique just 11 years ago by two scientists, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery.
What's next? CRISPR is an incredibly powerful technique and many more potential applications remain. However, most diseases aren't as genetically clear-cut as sickle cell anemia. Things get much more complicated and tricky in diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, for which more than 70 related genes have been identified.
But scientists continue to work. With their effort, as well as constant advances in AI, we can hope for more life-saving breakthroughs soon.