On the next episode of Fiat Lux Redux, Tuesday March 31 at 9AM, the inside story of the first CRISPR cure featuring UC Berkeley professor, Nobel Laureate and co-inventor of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, Jennifer Doudna, and Victoria Gray, a Mississippi woman who was the first patient in the world to receive a CRISPR-based treatment for sickle cell disease.
Narrated by Anne Brice, the host of Berkeley Voices, this episode tells the story of Victoria Gray’s lifelong painful struggle with Sickle Cell Disease and the landmark clinical trial she volunteered for in 2019. The treatment involved editing her stem cells to produce fetal hemoglobin, essentially bypassing the defective sickle cells and curing her disease.
The profound impact of CRISPR technology is explored through the lens of the first person to receive its curative therapy and bridges the gap between Jennifer Doudna’s Nobel Prize-winning laboratory at UC Berkeley and Victoria Gray’s courageous journey.
Fiat Lux Redux presents previously aired lectures, conversations, and podcasts originating on the campus of UC Berkeley every other Tuesday from 9am to 9:30am. These often-lengthy original programs have been edited to a 30-minute format by experienced KALX producers. The show’s name, Latin for “Let there be light”, is a reference to the University of California’s motto, which is also Fiat Lux. The show’s goal is to provide listeners with a window into the intellectual and cultural life of UC Berkeley and to showcase the wide range of subjects and diversity of thought and ideas that are present at UC Berkeley.
This program was edited by Mike Gill. If you have questions or comments about Fiat Lux Redux, contact lisa.katovich@gmail.
