First Personalized Gene Therapy Using Base Editing Shows Promising Results in Baby with Rare Disorder
- A baby named KJ Muldoon from Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, received a personalized experimental gene editing treatment in early 2025 for severe CPS1 deficiency, a rare and deadly genetic disease.
- Shortly after being born, KJ was identified as having CPS1 deficiency, a fatal condition in half of affected infants, prompting researchers to develop a personalized CRISPR-based treatment within six months to correct the crucial genetic defect.
- A therapy targeting liver cells with lipid nanoparticles was developed by a collaborative team from leading Philadelphia-based medical institutions and administered to KJ through initial and subsequent treatments between February and April 2025.
- Following treatment, KJ has shown improvements such as eating more normally, recovering from illnesses better, and taking less medication, though researchers caution it is still early to assess long-term effects.
- Experts say this milestone opens the door for more personalized gene therapies for rare diseases, but barriers remain, with expectations these will be overcome in five to ten years to help millions currently left behind.
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216 Articles
Washington Should Fund More Potential Science Miracles
A baby boy, born in Philadelphia in 2024 with a potentially fatal genetic deficiency, has become the first person treated with a custom gene-editing therapy. Doctors used CRISPR technology to rapidly create a personalized treatment for KJ, targeting the child’s specific mutation. The boy is meeting developmental milestones, his weight is in the 40th percentile, but his need for a liver transplant is still unknown, according to news reports. This…
From birth to gene-edited in 6 months: Custom therapy breaks speed limits
News broke yesterday that researchers in Philadelphia appear to have successfully treated a 6-month-old baby boy, called KJ, with a personalized CRISPR gene-editing therapy. The treatment corrects an ultra-rare mutation in KJ that breaks a liver enzyme. That enzyme is required to convert ammonia, a byproduct of metabolism, to urea, a waste product released in urine. Without treatment, ammonia would build up to dangerous levels in KJ—and he would…
World's first successful tailor-made gene therapy saves baby born with rare disorder
Baby KJ Muldoon was born with a rare genetic condition that is often fatal, but doctors used custom CRISPR gene therapy to target the exact mutation in his DNA. His family shares their emotional journey in their first TV interview with CBS News.
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