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Sickle Cell Anemia Research Paper

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Sickle-Cell Anemia Sickle-cell anemia is a genetic disease. People who are affected have two copes of the mutant gene. Normally, if a patient is heterozygous for the sickle-cell gene, they do not display any symptoms of the disease. Sickle-cell anemia is characterized by a deformation of red blood cells that are elongated and resemble sickles. In sickle-cell disease, mutated hemoglobin binds together to form large masses, which give the red blood cells their sickle shape. The hemoglobin found in this disease is referred to as hemoglobin S (Hb S), as opposed to normal adult hemoglobin, hemoglobin A (Hb A). A point mutation distinguishes the sickle-cell hemoglobin from the normal adult hemoglobin; in Hb S a valine is substituted in place

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