| abstract |
The disclosure provide methods and compositions that use gene editing or gene therapy to treat alpha thalassemia major. The gene editing may be performed <i>ex vivo</i> in fetal cells or cells obtained after birth to improve production of globin, with those cells then delivered to the fetus. In other embodiments, gene editing reagents are delivered to the fetus or the patient after birth <i>in vivo</i> to edit genes of the alpha-globin cluster and improve globin production. Gene editing system such as CRISPR, TALENs, or ZFNs are used to increase production of alpha, zeta, or theta globin and/or to decrease production of gamma globin. Globin production may be improved by inserting a copy of globin gene or mutating a globin gene to change its expression. Any of the gene editing strategies may be performed in conjunction with delivering to a fetus or patient after birth a therapeutic blood transfusion. Exemplary patients after birth are patients no older than one year of age. |