'Podcasts' | What diseases can the CRISPR genetic revolution save us from?

2023-03-22T11:16:44.049Z

A sickle cell patient was cured after decades of living in pain. A hopeful tool but still inaccessible to the majority, and with red lines

Corbis

An American sickle cell patient, Victoria Gray, was cured after decades of living in pain and hospital admissions thanks to a clinical trial using the CRISPR genetic modification technique.

It is a tool whose base was discovered three decades ago by the researcher Francis Mojica, in Alicante.

It is revolutionizing science, health and other technological fields, and it is already beginning to be applied to cure diseases.

The problem is that it's still pretty inaccessible, the treatment Victoria received is now valued at nearly $3 million.

The CRISPR technique also has a red line for the vast majority of geneticists: research on embryos for implantation purposes.

This is not the case for purely scientific purposes, which is done in Spain, as Anna Veiga, a biologist at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and the Dexeus Hospital, explains.

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