Britain has greenlit the country's free healthcare system to use a CRISPR gene-editing therapy for sickle cell anaemia that it is hoped will be a complete cure for the genetic disorder.

This is wild! When I was a kid they were still working on mapping the human genome. Now in half a lifetime they've gone from trying to unravel our genes to editing them to cure disease. Amazing!

This therapy is so new no one has had it long enough to know if it will be a complete cure, but many people involved think it may be.

CRISPR gene-editing was discovered in 2012, but its application in medicine has only taken off in more recent years. There are problems to overcome, particularly around unintended consequences from imprecise targeting of genes. That said, the list of genetic diseases and predispositions to diseases is long, so there is a great deal of potential with this biotech.

This is great news right?

Experimental gene splicing therapy: greenlit

Basic medical care for trans people: banned

Fuckin brits, man