By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Scientists in the U.S have used a DNA cutting technique, to remove a gene responsible for sickle-cell disease (SCD).
The technique called, Crispr (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) has been outlined in findings reported in the journal Science.
“Crispr-Cas9 is a molecular scissors that we can use to cut and remove disease-causing mutations in our DNA,” explains Dr Ciaran Lee, a postdoctoral student at APC Microbiome Ireland research institute at University College Cork who took part in the research.
Dr Lee – a Marie Curie research fellow – did the experimental work at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and his data analysis was carried out on his return to Ireland. Leading researchers from Rice University, Stanford University and Aarhus University were also involved.
The life expectancy for people with SCD is between 42 and 47, and it affects in the region of 500 people in Ireland. It is most common among people of sub-Saharan African descent, while the numbers affected in Ireland have been growing over the past two decades.
Cas9 is a gene-cutting enzyme that uses a family of DNA sequences commonly known as Crispr, and then remove specific bits of DNA that scientists believe are linked with disease.
Sickle cell disease is a life-threatening blood genetic disorder.
