The Nation - News from Aug. 13, 1987

A natural hormone produced through genetic engineering may provide a new treatment for sickle cell anemia by stimulating victims’ bodies to manufacture normal blood cells, animal studies suggest. The goal is to trick the body into producing a healthy form of hemoglobin that ordinarily is largely absent after birth. Scientists at the University of Washington injected the hormone into baboons and found that it stimulated the animals to produce blood cells containing fetal hemoglobin, “the best anti-sickling agent,” Dr. George Stamatoyannopoulos said at a news conference.