CRISPR could help doctors attack blood cancer without destroying healthy cells

In a 30-patient trial led by Washington University School of Medicine, researchers used CRISPR to remove CD33 from donor stem cells before transplant. The edited cells engrafted and appeared to shield healthy blood cells from CD33-targeted therapy, addressing a barrier that limits CAR-T against acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Results were published in Nature Medicine across 15 U.S. and Canadian sites.