Pioneering Stem Cell Trial Seeks to Cure Babies Before Birth

Pioneering Stem Cell Trial Seeks to Cure Babies Before Birth

“Even before she was born, Elianna Constantino had already cheated death.

Elianna has a rare inherited blood disorder called alpha thalassemia major, which prevents her red blood cells from forming properly. The disease, which has no cure, is usually fatal for a developing fetus.

But while still in her mother’s womb, Elianna received a highly daring treatment. Doctors isolated healthy blood stem cells from her mother and injected them through a blood vessel that runs down the umbilical cord. Four months later, Elianna was born with a loud cry and a glistening head of hair, defying all medical odds.

Elianna is the first in a pioneering clinical trial that pushes the boundaries of stem cell transplants. Led by Dr. Tippi MacKenzie, a pediatrician and fetal surgeon at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, the audacious trial asks: what if we could cure people of inherited diseases before they were born?…”

https://singularityhub.com/2018/06/13/pioneering-stem-cell-trial-seeks-to-cure-babies-before-birth/

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