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The Last 10%: The Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis | NOVA | PBS

NOVA PBS Official | September 22, 2026



*The Battle to Breathe: The Last 10%*

Inside the race to bring life-saving genetic therapies to every person living with cystic fibrosis.

Can progress outpace progression? For around 90% of people living with cystic fibrosis— a deadly genetic disease— new prescription drugs offer life-changing treatment. But for Emily Kramer-Golinkoff and the remaining 10%, the wait continues. Can modern breakthroughs like gene-editing offer a cure? Discover how relentless champions like Emily are fighting to ensure no person with CF is left behind.

📺 Watch the full documentary “The Battle to Breathe”: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/the-battle-to-breathe/

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#cysticfibrosis #cysticfibrosisawareness #documentary

Written by NOVA PBS Official

Comments

This post currently has 16 comments.

  1. @juliamason8393

    September 22, 2026 at 5:15 am

    I wish that this would happen for people who are born with kidney disease. I lost my oldest son to kidney disease at the age of 46. He was on dialysis for over half his life before a transplant that lasted for 13 years. My son passed away on Dec10,2022.

  2. @nancyholcombe8030

    September 22, 2026 at 5:15 am

    When I was 22, I had a young man, who was 18 at the time, working for me that had CF. He only worked four hours a day sitting on a chair or standing. He worked for only a year and a half and told me it was the best time of his life! He died at the age of 24. I'm 68 now and while my heart is grateful that there are now medicines that would've helped him, I hurt to see that it doesn't help all. I hope the gene replacement therapy comes through in time for those who have been brave enough to come forward and fight the battle for all who suffer! ❤

  3. @JoelWelter

    September 22, 2026 at 5:15 am

    My money is on MRNA therapies. We know how to do it already, so I would think that implementation should be fast. I'm NOT an expert, so I'll trust them to get it done, unlike the JFK crowd who would seek aroma therapy or high dose vitamins to fix this.

  4. @dennissmith8199

    September 22, 2026 at 5:15 am

    I have a friend whose daughter had CF. He and his wife didn't know that both of then carried the gene for CF before they decided to have children, and it was devastating when they found out that their daughter had it. I met her a couple of times, and she was a wonderful, brilliant young lady. She made it into her late twenties before she succumbed to the CF.
    Maybe if some of the billionaires in the world would spend some of their money to fund research into cures for diseases like CF, instead of using it to bribe politicians for furthering their money making agendas, diseases like this could be conquered. I have little realistic hope of that however.

  5. @Parboiledfrog

    September 22, 2026 at 5:15 am

    The insanity of it all. CF is an inherited disease. It is carried by the mothers genes. If the carriers stop having children, CF would vanish. We don't need to spend a dime on any research.

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