{"id":616350,"date":"2026-02-26T01:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T01:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/616350\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T01:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T01:02:11","slug":"after-a-baby-became-the-worlds-first-crispr-gene-editing-therapy-patient-chop-wants-to-expand-treatment-to-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/616350\/","title":{"rendered":"After a baby became the world’s first CRISPR gene editing therapy patient, CHOP wants to expand treatment to others"},"content":{"rendered":"

One year ago, a baby from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, became the first person in the world to receive a new revolutionary therapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We didn’t know that we were gonna reach his first birthday, if I’m being honest,” Nicole Muldoon, KJ’s mother, said. “Now we’re seeing him crawl. Now he’s walking.”<\/p>\n

A year ago, KJ, who was born with a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder, became the first person in the world to receive a personalized gene editing therapy at CHOP.<\/p>\n

“This is cutting edge at the forefront of something that no one has done before,” Dr. Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, of CHOP, said.<\/p>\n

The CHOP team used something called CRISPR, which is able to identify and edit the mutated gene.<\/p>\n

“In doing what we did for KJ, it opened the door to potentially helping hundreds, thousands, eventually millions of kids and adults around the world,” Dr. Kiran Musunuru, of CHOP, said.<\/p>\n

Hoping to expand the treatment opportunities, the Muldoon family and CHOP doctors were recently on Capitol Hill to share KJ’s story with lawmakers.<\/p>\n

“We really feel now that we have a responsibility to the world,” Musunuru said.<\/p>\n

Doctors said growing the technology depends on more funding for pediatric research and policies that expand access to personalized gene therapies.<\/p>\n

“We have made it our mission to figure out ways of being able to scale this so that more rare disease patients have access to this transformational technology,” Ahrens-Nicklas said.<\/p>\n

KJ’s parents are thrilled to see their little boy thriving and want others to have the same opportunity to get the life-saving therapy.<\/p>\n

“When it comes to getting funding, this is a bipartisan issue,” Kyle Muldoon, KJ’s father, said. “There are no politics in saving your kid’s life.”<\/p>\n

KJ isn’t considered cured, but doctors said he’s doing very well and will continue to be monitored closely to track long-term outcomes of the CRISPR technology.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

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