Teen's DNA 'Corrected' to Cure Rare Immune Disease

Ty Sperle spent 14 years looking over his shoulder, wondering if today would be the day a deadly infection would strike. At just 19 years old, he can finally stop worrying.

Sperle was diagnosed at age five with chronic granulomatous disease, a condition that left a giant hole in his immune system's protective armor. Bacteria and fungi that most people fight off easily could cause life-threatening infections in his body at any moment.

His pediatric immunologist at B.C. Children's Hospital, Dr. Stuart Turvey, watched him battle serious infections for years despite daily pills, antibiotics, and antifungals. People with this disease typically don't live long, healthy lives.

The traditional cure required a bone marrow transplant from a perfect donor. Sperle didn't have one.

Then Turvey heard about a clinical trial happening at Sainte-Justine University Hospital in Montreal, the only Canadian site testing a revolutionary new treatment. He immediately signed Sperle up.

The treatment works like a spell checker for DNA. Sperle was born with what Turvey calls a "spelling mistake" in his genetic code that prevented his immune system from building properly.

Scientists used a version of Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR technology called prime editing to go into Sperle's own cells and correct that mistake. Then they returned those corrected cells to his body, where they now function perfectly without any risk of rejection.

Why This Inspires

This moment represents the payoff of centuries of scientific curiosity and decades of detailed research. Just 20 years ago, scientists finished mapping the human genome for the first time. Now they can actually rewrite it to save lives.

Turvey calls it a "curative miracle," but admits it builds on generations of researchers who never gave up on understanding how our bodies work at the most fundamental level.

The success opens doors for other patients with similar genetic conditions who lack matching donors. What once seemed like science fiction is now saving real lives in Canadian hospitals.

For Turvey, the best part is simple: he no longer has to be Sperle's doctor because there's nothing left to treat. He can just be his friend and watch him live a normal, healthy life without constant fear.