$3 million prize goes to duo whose research led to first sickle cell CRISPR therapy

An illustration of the inside of a blood vessel, showing healthy donut shaped cells and sickle-shaped blood cells.

Two scientists whose work ushered in the first approved therapy using the gene-editing tool CRISPR have won the $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

The prize winners ‪—‬ Dr. Swee Lay Thein, of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and Dr. Stuart H. Orkin, of Harvard University — shared the award for basic research that led to the development of a gene therapy that treats the blood disorders sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.