Sickle Cell Anaemia is a genetic afflication which is widespread across Africa and amongst populations that descended from Africans. It has long been held to be incurable with most medical efforts aimed at minimizing the effects of the disease particularly the dreaded “crisis”.

Recent developments at the University of Alabama, Birmingham may open the door to a possible cure. Scientists at the university’s School of Medicine and Dentistry applied newly developed techniques to convert skin cells to stem cells, which were implanted into mice breed with sickle cell anaemia.

The stem cells used by the researchers had been genetically engineered to produce healthy red blood cells and on implantation successfully cured the mice of sickle cell anaemia.

The research was reported in the Science Journal, while elated at the breakthrough the researchers cautioned that aspects of the new approach will have to be changed before it can be tried in human patients. Most important, the technique depends on the use of gene-altered viruses that have the potential to trigger tumor growth.