India launches indigenous gene therapy to eradicate sickle cell disease

Aligning with the aim of eradicating sickle cell disease which is largely prevalent among the tribal population, India on Wednesday launched the first indigenous CRISPR-based gene therapy.

The breakthrough was developed at CSIR–Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB). Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited blood disorder where red blood cells misshapen, leading to pain crises, anaemia and organ damage.

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is a gene-editing technology that allows scientists to modify DNA in sickle cell disease patients. Doctors collect blood from the patient and isolate the patients carrying the sickle cell mutation and stem cells are edited. The edited stem cells are reinfused into the patient. Once inside the body, they produce heal