Sickle cell anemia is an autosomal recessive disorder in which abnormal hemoglobin leads to chronic hemolytic anemia with a variety of clinical consequences. The disorder is a classic example of disease caused by a point mutation in DNA. When in the deoxy form, hemoglobin S forms polymers that damage the red blood cell membrane. Both polymer formation and early membrane damage are reversible. However, red blood cells that have undergone repeated sickling are damaged beyond …showed first 75 words of 654 total…

…showed last 75 words of 654 total…activate a cancer gene or inactivate an essential or cancer-suppressing gene. Because of these unknowns, it will be some time before gene therapy is used to treat sickle cell disease. Bibliography Bibliography Beshore, George, Sickle Cell Anemia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Bloom, PhD Miriam,Understanding Sickle Cell Disease. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1995. Tierney, Jr.,Lawrence MD, Stephen J McPhee, MD, and Maxine A Papadakis, MD, Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall 435-437