Home - grown CRISPR Therapy for Sickle Cell Anaemia
Context:
In November 2025, India launched BIRSA-101, its first domestically developed CRISPR-based therapy aimed at providing an affordable cure for sickle cell anemia.
The therapy addresses a hereditary blood disorder that is particularly prevalent in the country's tribal and rural regions.
About the Therapy and Mission:
The therapy utilizes CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology to treat the disease
A key objective of this indigenous development is to ensure the treatment is affordable for the affected population
Under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, screening is being conducted across health centres for early identification, treatment and counselling, with the aim of achieving a “Sickle Cell-Free India by 2047”.
Efforts under the mission include widespread screening across health centres to ensure early identification, followed by appropriate treatment and counselling.
About Sickle Cell Anaemia:
It is a hereditary blood disorder prevalent in tribal and rural regions.
In sickle cell anaemia, the haemoglobin is defective.
After haemoglobin molecules give up their oxygen, some may cluster together and form long, rod-like structures.
These structures cause red blood cells to become stiff and assume a sickle shape, instead of being round and flexible.
These sickle shaped cells can block blood flow, leading to pain and other serious health complications.