Along with Huntington’s disease, another genetic disorder I discussed in Biology class was sickle cell anemia. I find sickle cell anemia very interesting. Having a portion of your cells being of the sickle shape can be beneficial, but if all of them are that shape it can be very harmful.
Sickle cell anemia is a red blood cell disorder where there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body. This is because, instead of being round and flexible, the blood cells take the shape of a crescent and are rigid. This causes the blood cells to get stuck in small blood vessels, slowing the flow of blood or even causing anemia, a shortage of red blood cells (Mayo Clinic, 2021).
One advantage to having sickle cells is it can heighten your resistance to Malaria. This explains why it is so common in places like sub-Saharan Africa where malaria is very prevalent and has transferred to their descendants now living in the Americas. This also explains why a person who has a heterozygous genotype for the gene that controls blood shape has an advantage. This is because having a mix of sickle cells and normal cells allows you to be resistant to malaria and have normal blood flow (Sickle Cell Anemia News, 2020).
“Sickle Cell Anemia.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 17 July 2021, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sickle-cell-anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355876#:~:text=Sickle%20cell%20anemia%20is%20one,move%20easily%20through%20blood%20vessels.
Klaus. “The Sickle Cell and Why It Is in Black People and Why It Makes…” Sickle Cell Disease News, 20 Aug. 2020, https://sicklecellanemianews.com/forums/forums/topic/the-sickle-cell-and-why-it-is-in-black-people-and-why-it-makes-them-pass-out/#:~:text=The%20reason%20why%20so%20many,problem%20is%20sub%2Dsaharan%20Africa.
Evolutionary Anthropology 