The Theory Of Genetics Within The World Of Health Science And Biology

Pain: The sickle cells are sticky and get stuck, clump together, resulting in a blockage in the flow of blood

Sickle cell anemia occurs when a person inherits two abnormal genes (one from each parent) that cause their red blood cells to change shape. Instead of being flexible and round, these cells are more rigid and curved in the shape of the farm tool known as a sickle - that's where the disease gets its name. The shape

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited blood disease which causes normal, round, healthy red blood cells to transform into sickle-shaped cells. Normal red blood cells are flexible and can easily pass through capillaries to bring oxygen to different parts of the body. However, sickle cells are fragile, and can easily die, leading to anemia (red blood cell deficiency). SCA can also cause blood vessel occlusion (blockage of blood vessels), tissue infarctions (death due to lack of oxygen), bone, joint, and abdominal pain, yellow eyes and skin, pale skin, delayed growth, increased risk of infections, and damage to organs. The disease is passed on by autosomal recessive inheritance, which means both parents of a child must have the defective gene for the child to be affected. If only one gene is inherited, the victim becomes a carrier of the sickle cell trait, producing only some sickle cells with little or no symptoms. This means two people with the trait have a 25% chance of having a baby with sickle cell disease, 25% chance of them having no defects, and 50% chance of the baby becoming a carrier as well. When the gene is inherited, it mutates the beta (β) globin gene in chromosome 11, changing the hemoglobins produced using instructions from the gene from a healthy hemoglobin A (Hb A) to a mutated hemoglobin S (Hb S). Many tests can be done to check for sickle cell disease, the most common being an ordinary blood test, where the blood is examined for hemoglobin S. If the

The shape of a sickle cell is basically a crescent moon or a "sickle" shape, hence the name. The sickle cells can get stuck in small arteries and veins because of their infamous shape and inability to squeeze through small areas, something regular red blood cells can do. The cause for this mutation is in the hemoglobin, a protein inside the red blood cell, which is what holds the oxygen being transported throughout the body (NIH, 2015). There is currently no cure for the sickle cell disease and it is also genetic.

The term sickle refers to the fact that the red blood cells take on a sickle cell shape, instead of their normal biconcave shape (1). The cells can switch between the sickle shape and their normal biconcave shape (2). Sickled cells lose their pliability making it hard for the red blood cells to move through the smaller blood vessels (1). In their abnormal state they become more likely to adhere to the endothelium of the smaller vessels, causing clots to form and the possibility of stroke (2).

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited disorder that produces sickle or crescent shape red blood cells. Thus, the mutated erythrocytes result in an inadequate supply of oxygen being transported throughout the body. Research shows that among those affected the most with the sickle cell gene are African Americans. In recent years, we have seen a decrease in mortality and morbidity rates as a result of new approaches to treating the disease. The more we understand the pathophysiology of sickle cell anemia, the more we learn about developing therapies for genetic disorders such as SCA. In this paper, we will briefly discuss what sickle cell anemia is and possible treatments for people with sickle cell anemia such as gene therapy and new drugs.

Sickle cell disease is categorized as an autosomal recessive disease. That means in order for one to inherit the disease, they must inherit two recessive alleles for sickle cell disease, or hemoglobin S gene. Having only one recessive allele makes you a carrier. The disorder causes the affected person’s red blood cells to disfigure into a crescent or sickle, which differs from the normal red blood cells that shaped into a doughnut. Sometimes, cells in a sickle shape cannot get through the narrow passageways of the blood vessels as easily as normal red blood cells. This blocks blood from entering and oxygen can’t reach the affected person’s organs. It can also crystallize and block arteries and

Pain can develop when sickle shaped red blood cells block blood flow through tiny vessels to your abdomen and chest. Sickle cell can damage your spleen and since red blood cells provide your body with the oxygen and nutrients you need to grow that will be delayed. Your retina in your eyes can be damaged since tiny blood vessels that supply your eyes gets plugged with sickle cells.

The past century has seen a significant increase in diversity across the United States. Approximately 36% of the population belongs to an ethnic or racial minority group according to the most recent census information. For the majority of the American population, infant mortality has been reduced and life expectancy has significantly increased. Health indicators such as these show improvement but minorities still continue to experience a disproportionate burden of death, disability, preventable disease, access to care, and treatment options. The disparities become even more pronounced when looking at awareness and treatment for particular diseases that are specific to a minority group. Sickle

300,000 children are born annually in the world with sickle cell, unfortunately they are usually in poor third world countries without the means to handle the epidemic. In countries such as Ghana the percentages of people that carry the trait can be upwards of 30 to 40 percent while in other parts of the continent there can be percentages upwards of 50 percent. The wide range and variation in people that carry it in different parts of the country might be connected to the different levels of malaria exposure, which I explained earlier, it appears that people with sickle cell are immune to malaria which is a bigger killer of humans in that region of the

Also, genetic drift can affect genetic variability in a population as well. An example of this would be the “founder effect” and the “bottleneck effect”. The founder effect is when a group of individuals become isolated from a large population, this can cause a change in allele frequencies for the already isolated individuals (Reece, 2014). For example, there are around 300 students in a classroom, if we take only 10 students to mars, they’re going to populate mars, so the entire mars colony will only depend on the alleles that those 10 people have. Another example is if a storm separates a small number of birds in a population and carries them to a separate island. The bottleneck effect is when there is a sudden decline in population size due to the environment conditions (Reece, 2014). An example of this would be if a large population of birds were mostly killed by a hurricane, leaving only a few birds

Sickle cell anemia is caused by a defect in the gene that controls the production of normal hemoglobin, which is an iron-containing protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to body tissues. The defective gene results in the production of abnormal hemoglobin known as hemoglobin S. If you have the disorder, you inherited one gene for hemoglobin S from each of your parents. The gene is recessive, so if you received a copy of the gene from just one parent, you are a carrier of the sickle cell gene.

Sickle Cell Anemia or Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited blood ailment. Those suffering from Sickle Cell Disease have abnormal S/ sickle hemoglobin in the red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein in the blood that aids in carrying oxygen throughout the body. The ailment takes its appellation from the shape of the red blood cells of a person affected by Sickle Cell Disease, which have the shape of a sickle. They are stiff and adhesive rather than a disk like normal cells. The misshapen cells tend to get trapped in the small blood vessels hindering the movement of blood and oxygen to the many areas of one’s body. This causes pain and organ damage. Hemoglobin molecules are comprised of an alpha and a beta. People with Sickle Cell Disease have an aberration occurring on a gene in their chromosomes 11 and 16. ("Sickle Cell Disease.") Chromosome 11 is the “gene that codes for the beta subunit of the hemoglobin protein” ("Sickle Cell Disease.") This causes the particles in the hemoglobin not to manifest accurately.

In a person that suffers from sickle cell disease, the red blood cells take on a crescent shape as they move through the body and lose oxygen. These sickled cells get stuck together in the small blood vessels and cause clots that can end up damaging organs. When

Sickle cell disease is an autosomal recessive condition. A person must inherit sickle cell genes from both the parents to have the disease. Sometimes, a person will receive sickle cell gene from one parent and a regular gene from the other, which are the carrier for sickle cell. These carriers has no health problems unless it is exposed to extreme conditions. It also decreases the severity of malaria. When both parents are genetic carriers of the disease, each child has a chance of: