Malaria & Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease is a lifelong blood disease. Individuals who have inherited at least one gene for the sickle cell trait tend to be able to fight off malaria, while individuals without a sickle cell gene cannot.
Sickle Cell Disease
Individuals with sickle cell disease have abnormal hemoglobin, which results in red blood cells that are less flexible and stickier than normal red blood cells. These unusual blood cells result in health complications and a significantly reduced lifespan.
Malaria
Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world, causing one to three million deaths a year.
Malaria Transmission in Mosquitoes
The Malaria disease is carried by a protozoa that lives in the cheeks of a particular female mosquito native to tropical regions.
Genetic Origins
Scientists believe that sickle cell disease originated thousands of years ago as a hemoglobin gene mutation where malaria is a common illness.
Genetic Impact
The blood of those with sickle cell disease, or who have the sickle cell trait, were more capable of fighting off and resisting malaria; as a result, those with the sickle cell mutation were more likely to reproduce and pass on the mutated gene than those who did not.
Tags: blood cells, cell disease, sickle cell, with sickle, with sickle cell