Hope they don't get into Sickle-cell origins ___ W.T.F. Tuskagee
Sound familiar?
Sickle cell anemia, or sickle cell disease, involves a genetic mutation that alters the genetic code of hemoglobin, a protein on red blood cells tasked with carrying oxygen throughout the body. Normally, red blood cells are highly elastic and able to alter their shape to pass easily through capillaries. But mutated hemoglobin proteins link together to form a network of stiff polymer fibers. These long fibers distort the shape, strength and elasticity of the cell, and along with increased red blood cell adherence to the blood vessels make it difficult for red blood cells to squeeze through tiny capillaries and often producing vessel blockages or tears. This can reduce oxygen flow, which can severely damage organs and cause intense pain if left unchecked. Furthermore, the defining sickle shape of the red blood cells decreases the surface area to which oxygen can bind, increasing oxygen deprivation. Finally, the lifespan of sickle cells is much less than that of normal red blood cells, resulting in anemia and further reduction in oxygen flow throughout the body.
Hope they don't get into Sickle-cell origins ___ W.T.F. Tuskagee
Sound familiar?
Sickle cell anemia, or sickle cell disease, involves a genetic mutation that alters the genetic code of hemoglobin, a protein on red blood cells tasked with carrying oxygen throughout the body. Normally, red blood cells are highly elastic and able to alter their shape to pass easily through capillaries. But mutated hemoglobin proteins link together to form a network of stiff polymer fibers. These long fibers distort the shape, strength and elasticity of the cell, and along with increased red blood cell adherence to the blood vessels make it difficult for red blood cells to squeeze through tiny capillaries and often producing vessel blockages or tears. This can reduce oxygen flow, which can severely damage organs and cause intense pain if left unchecked. Furthermore, the defining sickle shape of the red blood cells decreases the surface area to which oxygen can bind, increasing oxygen deprivation. Finally, the lifespan of sickle cells is much less than that of normal red blood cells, resulting in anemia and further reduction in oxygen flow throughout the body.
Sauce: https://news.engr.uconn.edu/mechanical-engineering-professor-investigates-sickle-cell-disease.php
Genetic modification targeting specific races and/or sex for pandemic disease? What could go wrong?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Plague