Correcting malfunctioning genes could perhaps cure diseases linked to a single gene, such as sickle-cell anemia.
Early trials have shown promise in treating sickle-cell anaemia, a disease caused by a faulty haemoglobin gene.
Sickle-cell anaemia, caused by genes protect against malaria, is the most famous example.
Several previous attempts to purify bone marrow for sickle-cell transplants have failed.
In the 1950s Anthony Allison, a British biochemist, observed that Africans who carry a single copy of the genetic mutation that causes sickle-cell anaemia are protected against malaria.
ECONOMIST: Genetics and infectious disease: The germ of an idea | The
It is now known that genetic variability accounts for 25% of susceptibility to the disease, but that variations in the sickle-cell gene contribute to only a fraction of that.
ECONOMIST: Genetics and infectious disease: The germ of an idea | The
There was no proof it would help (trials are under way at Stanford, partly sponsored by the SMA Foundation), but it had been safely used before on kids with sickle-cell anemia.
Of the millions of people with sickle-cell disease in the world, only some 300 have received a bone marrow transplant because of age (doctors won't perform the procedure on patients 16 years and older) and donor-matching problems.
The failure to do so after the first of the 21-sickle cell related deaths over the past decade and other heart-related deaths cannot objectively be explained away without serious doubt about whether there was sufficient caring and action at a high level for those student athletes.
FORBES: The Devilish Details Of The NCAA's New Genetic Testing Rules
If the safety of the student athlete is paramount, it seems better to simply demand the testing, not just for sickle cell but other life-threatening genetic markers.
FORBES: The Devilish Details Of The NCAA's New Genetic Testing Rules
About 21 percent of the D-1 schools had instituted voluntary sickle cell screening before this new NCAA rule.
FORBES: The Devilish Details Of The NCAA's New Genetic Testing Rules
Variations in the between-gene regions have been linked to sickle cell anemia and diabetes.
Poloxamer 188 has already been tested in humans with sickle cell anaemia and was found to be safe in the short term - 24 hours of use.
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Reality for TLC's T-Boz has been a challenge, starting at age 7, when she was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia.
And screening for sickle cell diseases by week 10 and Down's syndrome between 11 and 14 weeks using the most up-to-date methods should be available.
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