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
In this September 2021 photo provided by NYU Langone Health, a surgical team at the hospital in New York examines a pig kidney attached to the body of a deceased recipient for any signs of rejection. The test was a step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Joe Carrotta/AP 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
As part of a clinical trial to treat sickle cell disease, Victoria Gray (center) has vials of blood drawn by nurses Bonnie Carroll (left) and Kayla Jordan at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption
The preliminary results described Wednesday come from two patients with multiple myeloma and one with sarcoma. This was just a first safety test, the scientists say, and was not designed to measure whether such a treatment would work. Jure Gasparic/EyeEm/Getty Images hide caption
Gianpiero Palermo, a professor of embryology at Weill Cornell Medicine, runs the lab where scientists are trying to use CRISPR to edit genes in human sperm. Elias Williams for NPR hide caption
Gray was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was an infant. She was considering a bone marrow transplant when she heard about the CRISPR study and jumped at the chance to volunteer. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption
Using embryonic stem cells, researchers created a structure that mimics the earliest stages of human development in the womb. This image shows the structure breaking the symmetry of the sphere, which starts the development of more complex structures that eventually develop into a fetus. Mijo Simunovic, Ph.D., Simons Junior Fellow, The Rockefeller University hide caption
CRISPR technology already allows scientists to make very precise modifications to DNA, and it could revolutionize how doctors prevent and treat many diseases. But using it to create gene-edited babies is still widely considered unethical. Gregor Fischer/picture alliance via Getty Images hide caption
The genetic variation Chinese scientist He Jiankui was trying to re-create when he edited twin girls' DNA may be more harmful than helpful to health overall, a new study says. Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg/Getty Images hide caption
About two years ago, Alphonso Evans went to the hospital for what he thought was just another bladder infection and ended up in intensive care. In an effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, scientists have created "living antibiotics" made of viruses that have been genetically modified using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. Rob Stein/NPR hide caption
CRISPR gene-editing technology allows scientists to make highly precise modifications to DNA. The technology is now starting to be used in human trials to treat several diseases in the U.S. Molekuul/Getty Images/Science Photo Library hide caption
There was an uproar in 2018 when a scientist in China, He Jiankui, announced that he had successfully used CRISPR to edit the genes of twin girls when they were embryos. Prominent scientists hope to stop further attempts at germline editing, at least for now. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption
An artist's rendering shows a needle-like carbon nanotube delivering DNA through the wall of a plant cell. It also may be possible to use this method to inject a gene editing tool called CRISPR to alter a plant's characteristics for breeding. Courtesy of Markita del Carpio Landry hide caption