crispr

"The therapy has really transformed my life more than I could have ever imagined," Victoria Gray, the first person to receive the CRISPR gene-editing treatment tellls NPR. "It gave me a new lease on life." Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption

Preliminary results from a study show that gene-editing technology can be used to successfully treat a genetic disorder that increases the risk of heart disease. Gerardo Huitrón/Getty Images hide caption

"It's really life-changing," says Victoria Gray, when describing the gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease that she received as part of a clinical trial in 2019. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption

Scientists have engineered an albino squid that provides a window into the inner workings of the brain. Carrie Albertin/MBL Cephalopod Program hide caption

Mosquitoes spread malaria. Now researchers hope that a gene drive technology could turn them into malaria fighters. Although not every scientist thinks it's a good idea to genetically modify a wild animal. James Gathany/AP hide caption

He Jiankui announced nearly five years ago that he had created the first gene-edited babies. Aowen Cao/NPR hide caption

In London to address a gene-editing summit last week, Victoria Gray took a break to visit Sir John Soane's Museum. In 2019, Gray became the first patient to be treated for sickle cell disease using CRISPR, an experimental gene-editing technique. She was invited to talk about her experiences at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing. Orlando Gili for NPR hide caption

Researchers meeting in London this week concluded that techniques that have made it easier to manipulate DNA still produce too many mistakes for scientists to be confident any children born from edited embryos (such as these, photographed in 2018) would be healthy. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption

Biophysicist He Jiankui addressed the last international summit on human genome editing in Hong Kong in 2018. His experiments in altering the genetic makeup of human embryos was widely condemned by scientists and ethicists at the time, and still casts a long shadow over this week's summit in London. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Katie Pope Kopp, 64, of Parkville, Mo., at Union Station in Kansas City this week. Kopp underwent a new form of experimental CAR T-cell therapy that used the CRISPR gene-editing technique to treat her non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The cancer has been in remission for over a year. Barrett Emke for NPR hide caption

Victoria Gray, who has sickle cell disease, volunteered for one of the most anticipated medical experiments in decades: the first attempt to use the gene-editing technique CRISPR to treat a genetic disorder in the United States. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

Carlene Knight, who has a congenital eye disorder, volunteered to let doctors edit the genes in her retina using CRISPR. Franny White/OHSU hide caption

Patrick Doherty volunteered for a new medical intervention of gene-editor infusions for the treatment of genetically-based diseases. Patrick Doherty hide caption

Carlene Knight, 54, is one of the first patients in a landmark study designed to try to restore vision in those who have a rare genetic disease that causes blindness. Josh Andersen/Oregon Health & Science University hide caption

Biochemist Jennifer Doudna, the subject of Walter Isaacson's new biography The Code Breaker, shared a Nobel prize in chemistry in 2020 for the part she played in developing the CRISPR gene editing technology. Nick Otto/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

Victoria Gray (second from left) with children Jamarius Wash, Jadasia Wash and Jaden Wash. Now that the gene-editing treatment has eased Gray's pain, she has been able be more active in her kids' lives and looks forward to the future. "This is really a life-changer for me," she says. Victoria Gray hide caption

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. Victoria Gray hide caption

Mammoth Biosciences and researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are working on a coronavirus test that could run multiple samples at once, with results in 35-40 minutes. Even better, they say, it doesn't require the sophisticated, expensive equipment used in other tests for the virus. Mammoth Biosciences hide caption

Scientists at the Casey Eye Institute, in Portland, Ore., have have injected a harmless virus containing CRISPR gene-editing instructions inside the retinal cells of a patient with a rare form of genetic blindness. KTSDesign/Science Photo Library/Getty Images hide caption

Victoria Gray, who has sickle cell disease, volunteered for one of the most anticipated medical experiments in decades: the first attempt to use the gene-editing technique CRISPR to treat a genetic disorder in the United States. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption