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Stem cells could cure sickle cell disease

Richard Black

Source: BBC Online

11 December 2002 | EN

Transplants of stem cells could be used to treat children with sickle cell disease, according to a new study.

Currently there is no cure for sickle cell disease, a potentially fatal hereditary blood disorder that mainly affects those living in Africa.

But a team of French researchers has found that 85 per cent of children with sickle cell disease were alive and disease-free three years after being given transplants of stem cells. These cells produce normal, healthy blood instead of the deformed red blood cells found in individuals with the disease.

Link to BBC Online news story

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