Sickle-cell anaemia cured for 1st time by gene modification
In a first, French researchers have successfully reversed sickle-cell anaemia in a 13-year-old boy using gene modification. The sickle-cell disease causes normal oxygen-carrying red blood cells (RBCs) to get sickle-shaped, which can be fatal as it blocks the blood flow. Doctors removed the patient's bone marrow, altered the DNA and inserted it back in his body to remake normal RBCs.