New Hope for Sickle Cell Sufferers
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 16:49
in Health & Medicine
Inherited forms of anemia may soon be treated by turning on a gene normally active only in the womb. Researchers report today in Science that they have discovered the molecular switch for activating the fetal form of hemoglobin--the iron-containing protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen--which could help alleviate the symptoms of genetic blood disorders, including sickle cell anemia, which affects an estimated 70,000 people (mostly African-Americans) in the U.S. [More]