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Article: WITH HEMOGLOBIN C, MALARIA PARASITE CAN'T HIDE HEMOGLOBIN C FOILS BLOOD CELL REMODELING: MALARIA PROTECTION.
- Article from:
- BIOWORLD Today
- Article date:
- June 28, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Anette Breindl, Science Editor
Sickle cell anemia is one of the textbook classics of how disease-causing alleles can remain in the population. Caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin chain, its effects depend entirely on whether a carrier has one copy or two: While a single copy protects its carriers against malaria, two copies give the carrier sickle cell anemia.
Sickle cell anemia results from a single amino acid substitution in the hemoglobin molecule, the oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells. Regular hemoglobin is known as hemoglobin A, whereas sickle cell hemoglobin is hemoglobin S.
Then there's hemoglobin C, which ...