Mumbai, Nov. 20 -- Over two years after the Centre launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, Union minister for science and technology Jitendra Singh on Wednesday launched the country's first indigenous CRISPR-based gene therapy for the genetic blood disorder, which significantly affects India's tribal population. . Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited disorder that affects the red blood cells and causes them to change shape -- from round and flexible into the shape of a sickle. A chronic disorder, SCD is characterised by chronic anaemia, acute painful episodes, organ infarction, and chronic organ damage, significantly reducing life expectancy. According to the Global Burden of Disease 2021, an estimated 82,500 bir...