Slayman received his first kidney transplant in 2018 from a human donor. The donor kidney initially functioned well, but Slayman started to go into kidney failure after years of living with diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, which can eventually result in kidney failure. He had no choice but to go on … Read more
At the end of 2023, we witnessed an important moment in the history of medicine: For the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a therapy that uses Crispr gene editing. This new therapy was developed by Crispr Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals to treat sickle cell disease, an ailment caused by a single-letter … Read more
So far, only nine centers across the US are currently offering Casgevy, which may limit who gets access to it. Vertex says the number of participating sites will grow in the coming weeks and months. And despite the promise of a pain-free future, the grueling process of getting Casgevy may be a deterrent for some. … Read more
Casgevy uses the Nobel Prize–winning technology Crispr to modify patients’ cells so that they produce healthy hemoglobin instead. The Crispr system has two parts: a protein that cuts genetic material and a guide molecule that tells it where in the genome to make the cut. To do this, a patient’s stem cells are taken out … Read more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the country’s first gene-editing treatment, Casgevy, for use in patients with sickle cell disease. The approval comes about a decade after the discovery of CRISPR technology for editing human DNA, representing a significant scientific advancement. Yet reaching the tens of thousands of people who could benefit … Read more
It’s been a monumental year for Crispr, the molecular tool scientists use to edit genetic material. This November, the United Kingdom authorized the first medical treatment using Crispr gene editing, giving people with sickle cell disease new opportunities to receive a one-time therapy to prevent episodes of terrible pain. This week, the US Food and … Read more