St. Jude at forefront of life-changing gene therapy for sickle cell patients
Former St. Jude Children's Research Hospital patient Donte Johnson began receiving gene-editing therapy in 2020. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Gene therapy, which modifies a person’s genes to treat or cure a disease, looks promising as a potential cure for everything from diabetes and blindness to cancer and muscular dystrophy.
At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the technique is being used to give sickle cell disease patients like Donte Johnson of Memphis a new lease on life.
Since infancy, Johnson, 23, has lived with the debilitating, inherited blood disorder, characterized by chronic pain. As a child, he was treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s pediatric sickle cell clinic.
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Sickle Cell Disease St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dr. Alexandra Leonard Casgevy Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki has spent the better part of two decades writing about Memphis. A former digital journalist for WMC Action News 5 and staff reporter for Memphis Daily News, her work has also appeared in The Commercial Appeal, High Ground News, I Love Memphis, Inside Memphis Business, The Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, Memphis Magazine and Tri-State Defender.
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