What is the origin of sickle cell disease?
The error in the hemoglobin gene results from a genetic mutation that occurred many thousands of years ago in people in parts of Africa, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and India. Malaria was very common at that time and the epidemic caused the death of great numbers of people. Studies show that in areas where malaria was a problem, children who inherited one sickle hemoglobin gene and carried the sickle cell trait (but not sickle cell disease) were more likely to survive infection with malaria. So, unlike the children who had normal hemoglobin genes, children with the trait better survived the malaria epidemics, grew up, had their own children, and passed on the gene for sickle hemoglobin. As a result of migration, the slave trade and new mutations, the sickle cell mutation spread to other Mediterranean areas, the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere. In the United States and other countries where malaria is not a problem, the sickle hemoglobin gene no longer provides a sur
