Gene therapy: a novel way to treat respiratory failure?

Respiratory failure leads to tissue hypoxia and subsequent organ damage. The crocodile hemoglobin affinity for oxygen is significantly reduced in the presence of CO2, allowing crocodiles to stay under water for more than 1h. The crocodile bicarbonate effect can possibly be transplanted into the human hemoglobin by replacing only five and seven amino acid residues in the β-globin and α-globin chains, respectively. The resulting hybrid formed by these modified chains has been named Scuba hemoglobin. The in vitro production of Scuba hemoglobin by human hematopoietic stem cells and their reintroduction into the blood could be an interesting tool to improve tissue oxygenation in patients suffering from respiratory failure.