Blood Test

Scientists are working on the possibilities of treating thalassaemia with gene editing.

- Pooja Biraia Jaiswal

VARUN AHUJA, in faded blue denims, a jacket and brown sports shoes, sits patiently at the edge of bed number 1 in the second-floor ward of Mumbai's S.L. Raheja Fortis Hospital's Thalassemia Centre, texting on his phone. He has a scrawny physique, bright eyes, a well-groomed beard and hair that is neatly pulled back with gel. At first, it seems as if he is a visitor, but then a nurse enters the room with two bags of blood, sets them up on the stand next to his bed, asks him to extend his arm and injects the IV drip. The blood begins to flow into his veins. This happens twice a month.

Ahuja is a patient of beta thalassaemia, a genetic blood disorder in which the body's capacity to produce haemoglobin is severely restricted. This leads to a severe lack of oxygen in many parts of the body and the patient requires constant replenishment of red blood cells to keep him alive. Ahuja was diagnosed with it when he was all of six months.