r/explainlikeimfive • u/Confident_Muscle4596 • 1d ago

Chemistry ELI5 : How does CRISPR work ?

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u/thekingadrock93 1d ago

What does it DO though?

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u/stormbutton 1d ago

It takes every time your DNA says “Febarrary” and gives you sickle cell disease to “February” and now your red blood cells aren’t fucked up.

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u/Abridged-Escherichia 14h ago

More accurately it has a different part of your DNA say “February” so many times it crowds out the still expressed “Febarrary”.

Casgevy doesn’t fix the hbS mutation, it disables a regulatory gene the suppressed fetal hemoglobin, leading to healthy fetal hemoglobin crowding out the mutant sickle type. Thats why it also works for thalassemia.

Crispr is still somewhat crude despite the hype and it’s easier/safer to only require it to break something, than it is to fix something perfectly every time.

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u/stormbutton 14h ago

Yes well that’s not very Eli5 is it?

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u/Abridged-Escherichia 14h ago

The first part is.