HERE IN THE MID-SOUTH ... A
CONSIDERABLE PART OF OUR
POPULATION LIVES WITH SICKLE
CELL ANEMIA. A CRIPPLING DISEASE
... WITHOUT A CURE!
AT LEAST, NOT YET.
"GOOD DAY MEMPHIS" ANCHOR KELSIE
CAIRNS REPORTS ... RESEARCHERS
AT SAINT JUDE CHILDREN'S RESARCH
HOSPITAL ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH
A CONTROVERSIAL GENE-EDITING
THERAPY...THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL
TO END SICKLE CELL AS WE KNOW
IT.
KELSIE CAIRNS/REPORTING: Dr.
Mitchell Weiss/ St. Jude
Hematology: "This is the first
molecular disease, and we can't
do anything to help it."
SICKLE CELL ANEMIA AFFECTS MORE
THAN 4 THOUSAND PEOPLE HERE IN
THE BLUFF CITY. WHILE THERE'S NO
CURE, RESEARCHERS AT SAINT JUDE
CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL ARE
GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER.
DR. MITCHELL WEISS SPECIALIZES
IN PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY AND
ONCOLOGY AT SAINT JUDE. Dr.
Mitchell Weiss/ St. Jude
Hematology: "We're going from a
situation where there's not very
much that we can do, to having a
tremendous amount of
opportunities." RESEARCHERS HAVE
FOUND A WAY TO USE GENE- EDITING
THERAPY CALLED "CRISPR" TO
ESSENTIALLY "FIX" SICKLE CELL
DISEASE. "CRISPR" ... SHORT FOR
"CLUSTERED REGULARLY INTERSPACED
PALINDROMIC REPEATS".CAN BE USED
TO "EDIT" THE D-N-A OF LIVING
HUMAN CELLS.
DR. SHENGDAR TSAI SHENG-DAR SIGH
WORKS IN EXPERIMENTAL HEMATOLOGY
AT SAINT JUDE. Dr. Shengdar
Tsai/Dept. of Hematology: "It's
basically like a small molecular
scissor, that can cut the DNA at
specific points, and the cell
could repair the DNA to make
particular changes."
CHANGES...THAT COULD CURE A
SICKLE CELL PATIENT. HERE'S HOW
IT WORKS. DR. TSAI JUST
MENTIONED THAT MOLECULAR
SCISSOR. THE "SCISSOR," OR
ENZYME, CUTS THE "BAD" D-N-A
INSIDE A CELL. THIS CREATES A
MUTATION THAT FIXES THE DNA.
AS CELLS GROW AND DIVIDE...AS
THEY DO IN OUR BODY AT ANY GIVEN
MOMENT...NEWLY "EDITED" CELLS
ARE FORMED.
NAT POP LAB
WHILE IT SEEMS LIKE THE NEXT
BEST THING.
CRITICS IN THE MEDICAL FIELD SAY
THAT SUCH A MUTATION CAN CREATE
MORE PROBLEMS LATER...POSSIBLY
CAUSING OTHER HEALTH ISSUES.
WHILE THE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY
ARE HERE...THIS THERAPY IS NOT
READY TO BE MASS-PRODUCED. THIS
IS THE EXPERIMENTAL PHASE.
Dr. Mitchell Weiss/ St. Jude
Hematology: "What we would like
to see is for this research to
reach a point where it becomes
approved as a standard care."
KELSIE CAIRNS LOCAL 24 NEWS
THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS
WEEK?
