Malaysian born Consultant haematologist Dr Thein Swee Lay won 1 of the 6 2026 Breakthrough Prizes

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]All right, let's get on with the show.

[00:00:01]Here to present our first Breakthrough Prize, between the three of us, we have won four Academy Awards. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Octavia Spencer AND SEAN PENN.

[00:00:13]>> [music] [applause] [music] >> THANK YOU, JAMES.

[00:00:22]What a pleasure to be standing here at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony, which has been called the Oscars for the sciences, with the great Sean Penn.

[00:00:35]>> [applause] >> It's great to be with you tonight, Octavia.

[00:00:40]Millions of people worldwide suffer from two severe blood diseases. Many patients depend on regular blood transfusions to medicate their whole lives to manage pain and prevent organ damage. There was no obvious way to target the mutations that cause these diseases.

[00:00:59]But our DNA tells a story not just about who we are now, but about our whole lives, from the womb onward. And the first scientists we honor tonight saw an opportunity hidden in patients' genetic backstory to teach the body how to cure itself.

[00:01:18]Every breath [music] is the beginning of a journey.

[00:01:22]Your red blood cells carry the molecule hemoglobin, spreading life-giving [music] oxygen through your body. But in beta-thalassemia, not enough hemoglobin is produced. And in sickle cell anemia, red blood cells warp and clump to block the flow. For millions worldwide, symptoms can be severe and even fatal.

[00:01:40]>> [music] >> But Swee Lay Thein is following an intriguing lead. Babies produce a special form of hemoglobin, which does not cause these symptoms, [music] until an order comes in from the library of life.

[00:01:53]And that's when the symptoms begin.

[00:01:56]But some people never [music] make the switch. They keep making fetal hemoglobin all their lives.

[00:02:02]They have a very [music] mild disease because they all have this unusual ability to produce high levels [music] of fetal hemoglobin.

[00:02:11]If scientists knew which gene orders that switch, maybe [music] they could turn it off and allow healthy fetal hemoglobin to continue to flow.

[00:02:19]After decades of searching, Thein finds the gene [music] that gives the orders to switch to adult hemoglobin. And then, in a series of landmark experiments, Stuart Orkin [music] proves this gene controls the switch. We eliminated the BCL11A gene genetically and asked what would happen to their sickle cell [music] symptoms. He shows that without it, defective adult hemoglobin is never produced and the diseases [music] cannot take hold, enabling the first FDA-approved CRISPR therapy that keeps healthy fetal [music] hemoglobin flowing permanently and has transformed the lives of people all over the world.

[00:02:56][music] >> [applause] >> For elucidating the mechanism driving the switch from fetal to adult hemoglobin and validating its therapeutic target for sickle cell disease.

[00:03:13]The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences goes to Stuart Orkin and Swee Lay Thein.

[00:03:20]>> [music] [music] >> Thank you. I pursue science to satisfy my curiosity and I want to be useful to society.

[00:03:36]I entered research at the dawn of DNA cloning five decades ago.

[00:03:41]I hope to apply molecular biology to improve the lives of patients.

[00:03:46]At the time, to many this seemed like a wild fantasy.

[00:03:52]My work, though, with extraordinary colleagues, has taken this bold vision and made it real.

[00:03:59]We've learned how fetal hemoglobin is turned off at birth and used this knowledge to cure sickle cell disease and thalassemia, lifelong anemias.

[00:04:11]There is no better story to refute those who doubt the value of science. Thank you.

[00:04:19]>> [applause] >> As a child hanging out with my older brothers, playing on old railway tracks in Malaysia, I never imagined being here today.

[00:04:31]After more than 20 years of challenges, passion and perseverance has brought me to this moment, which honors my mother, mentors, students, collaborators, and patients.

[00:04:46]Gene editing marks a major breakthrough for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, but let us not forget that most of the millions affected still lack access.

[00:05:01]However, new affordable therapies are coming.

[00:05:05]The future of genetics is brighter than ever.

[00:05:09]Thank you.

[00:05:13]>> [music]