On April 18, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation revealed the 2026 winners, distributing six $3 million awards in the fields of life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics. This year’s total funding amounts to $18.75 million.
One of the three life sciences honors went jointly to Stuart Orkin and Swee Lay Thein for their work advancing therapies for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, which are severe blood conditions. Their research on the transition from fetal to adult hemoglobin paved the way for Casgevy, the world’s first approved CRISPR therapy for any illness. This treatment involves modifying a patient’s own blood stem cells through gene editing.
