The Gene Pool

Sickle-cell anemia or, sickle-cell disease is an inherited autosomal recessive trait that affects certain proteins in red blood cells called hemoglobins, hemoglobins carry oxygen from the lungs into the blood stream, red blood cells with hemoglobins are normally disc shaped but blood cells without hemoglobins are crescent or sickle shaped. The lack of tissue oxygen can cause painful attacks called crises to happen, these crises happen randomly and without warning and can become very painful sickle-cell disease can result in organ failure and even death. Normal red blood cells last 90-120 days but sickle red blood cells last a measly 10-20 days. since sickle-cell anemia is an autosomal disease this means the gene mutation takes place on a numbered chromosome and not a sex chromosome (x or y)

 

Currently there is no cure for sickle-cell disease but there are forms of treatment including various pain killers ranging from ibuprophen to opiets like vicodin. People also get blood transfusions to help deal with the pain but these transfusions do not last forever.

 

Since sickle-cell anemia is a recessive trait this means that you need two copies of the recessive allele for hemoglobins, just because it is recessive doesn't mean that it is less common than a dominant trait, it just means that either both of you parents need to have it, both parents need to be a carrier for it or one parent needs to be a carrier and one needs to have it in order for you to have a chance of getting it. the genotype for sickle-cell anemia is ss because it is recessive 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

NIH. "What Is Sickle Cell Disease?" - NHLBI, NIH. NIH, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

 

NHL. "How Is Sickle Cell Disease Treated?" - NHLBI, NIH. NHL, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.