Today, human populations carry heavy genetic marks from the war with malaria. And it is the red blood cell (erythrocyte) that mostly bears the scars.
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Articles on Sickle cell anaemia
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Once genetic lesions for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and haemophilia were identified, the idea of replacing or correcting defective genes grew into what we now call "gene therapy".
Cystic fibrosis is the most common genetic disease among Caucasians. Now scientists believe they have discovered the origin of this often lethal genetic mutation and how it spread throughout Europe.
New research shows just 1% of E. coli bacteria's genetic mutations are lethal.
Gene therapy is allowing us to switch on natural beneficial mutations to counteract the effects of negative mutations in diseases such as sickle cell anaemia.
Every year, 300,000 children are born with sickle-cell disease, primarily in Africa and India. It is a genetic disorder that causes some blood cells to become abnormally shaped. The result is that those…
Genetic mutations that affect our blood cells’ haemoglobin are the most common of all mutations. It has been estimated that around 5% of the world’s population carry a defective globin gene. Haemoglobin…
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Merlin Crossley is a Friend of The Conversation.Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Professor of Molecular Biology, UNSW
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Laboratory Head, Population Health and Immunity/ Infection and Immunity, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
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Senior Lecturer in Medical Genetics, Kingston University
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Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
