Hong Kong’s Shaw Prize awarded to 2 scientists for study into treatment for blood disorder affecting 20 million
- Thein Swee Lay and Stuart Orkin are honoured for their research into treatment for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassaemia
- Two winners to get equal share of US$1.2 million prize money for the life sciences and medicine category, organisers say
Two life scientists whose research contributed to a cure for a blood disorder affecting 20 million people worldwide are among this year’s winners of Hong Kong’s prestigious Shaw Prize.
American scientists Thein Swee Lay and Stuart Orkin on Tuesday received the Shaw Prize for Life Sciences and Medicine for their analysis of blood cell disorders.
The pair’s research provides an alternative treatment for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassaemia, conditions affecting the production of the adult form of haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen.
Thein found that the difference in the disease severity in patients was due to a gene called BCL11A, a major regulator of a type of haemoglobin only found in fetuses below six months old.
Orkin’s research established that altering the BCL11A protein using gene editing could reactivate fetal haemoglobin production, providing an alternative treatment to blood transplant.
The Food and Drug Administration in the United States approved two sickle stem cell therapies last December, based on Thein and Orkin’s work.
“Thein Swee Lay and Stuart Orkin’s work exemplifies how basic discovery, disease research and translational medicine can drive the development of transformative therapies that save lives,” said Professor Bonnie Bassler, the chair of the prize’s life sciences and medicine selection committee.
