In 2019, a Mississippi woman became the first person to receive a CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease; seven years later, she is living a life she once thought was impossible

Victoria Gray, diagnosed with sickle cell disease as an infant, endured decades of severe pain, hospitalisations and blood transfusions before becoming the first patient to receive an experimental CRISPR treatment in 2019. Doctors edited her stem cells and returned them after chemotherapy, dramatically reducing her pain crises and dependence on transfusions. Her experience helped demonstrate the potential of gene editing and contributed to the development of Casgevy, the first CRISPR-based therapy for sickle cell disease, approved in 2023.