thalassemia

thal·as·se·mia | \ ˌtha-lə-ˈsē-mē-ə

Definition of thalassemia

: any of a group of inherited disorders of hemoglobin synthesis (such as Cooley's anemia) that are marked by mild to severe hypochromic and microcytic anemia, result from the partial or complete failure in production of one or more globin chains, and tend to occur especially in individuals of Mediterranean, African, or southeastern Asian ancestry —sometimes used with a prefix (such as alpha-, beta-, or delta-) to indicate the hemoglobin chain affected — see beta-thalassemia

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Recent Examples on the Web For example, CRISPR Therapeutics has ongoing clinical trials employing CRISPR-Cas9 to fix sickle cell anemia, as well as another blood condition known as beta thalassemia. — Claire Maldarelli, Popular Science, "Two women just won the Nobel Prize for their work on the gene-editing technique CRISPR," 7 Oct. 2020 Imagine the day when your great grandchild sues her parents for not genetically engineering her to protect her from cystic fibrosis, or thalassemia, or sickle cell anemia. — Jane Metcalfe, Wired, "Covid-19 Is Accelerating Human Transformation—Let’s Not Waste It," 5 July 2020 Cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, thalassemia and congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which leads to an overproduction of male hormones, are some of the diseases which can now be predicted by NIPT, according to Lo. — Julie Zaugg, CNN, "Blood smuggling in China: Why pregnant women are breaking the law to find out their babies' sex," 13 Oct. 2019 In the case of Zynteglo for beta thalassemia, this means living longer with a better quality of life than could be expected with existing treatments. — Nick Leschly, STAT, "In pricing our gene therapy, Bluebird weighed value, shared risk, and a lifetime cap," 26 Nov. 2019 For one, the patient with beta-thalassemia (which can cause severe anemia) went from requiring more than 16 blood transfusions per year before treatment to none nine months after treatment. — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "A Small Study Raises Big Hopes That Gene-Editing Can Treat Blood Diseases," 19 Nov. 2019 In beta thalassemia, the hemoglobin part of red blood cells, which is supposed to pick up oxygen from the lungs and distribute it to the cells in the rest of the body, doesn’t work properly. — Time, "CRISPR Gene Editing Is Being Tested in Human Patients, and the Results Could Revolutionize Health Care," 6 Aug. 2019 The health care system gains greatly from costs avoided, which, in the case of transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, can add up to millions of dollars over a patient’s lifetime. — Nick Leschly, STAT, "In pricing our gene therapy, Bluebird weighed value, shared risk, and a lifetime cap," 26 Nov. 2019 One of the most promising, for example, is studying whether gene editing can treat, and effectively cure, blood disorders such as beta thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. — Time, "CRISPR Gene Editing Is Being Tested in Human Patients, and the Results Could Revolutionize Health Care," 6 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thalassemia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

25 Oct 2020

Cite this Entry

“Thalassemia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thalassemia. Accessed 25 Nov. 2020.

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More Definitions for thalassemia

thalassemia

noun

thal·as·se·mia

variants: or British thalassaemia \ ˌthal-ə-ˈsē-mē-ə

Medical Definition of thalassemia

: any of a group of inherited hypochromic anemias and especially Cooley's anemia controlled by a series of allelic genes that cause reduction in or failure of synthesis of one of the globin chains making up hemoglobin and that tend to occur especially in individuals of Mediterranean, African, or southeastern Asian ancestry —sometimes used with a prefix (as alpha-, beta-, or delta-) to indicate the hemoglobin chain affected

— called also Mediterranean anemia

— see alpha-thalassemia, beta-thalassemia