1. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects hemoglobin throughout the body. It disrupts this important process by distorting normally flexible disc-shaped RBC's into stiff crescents that get stuck inside the blood vessels as the blockage leads to pain and organ damage.
A version of a SNP, one of the genes that makes the clump prone type of hemoglobin that leads to mishapen cells causes sickle cell anemia. People with two copies of the version of this SNP have the disease while people who with just one copy are carriers but they do not usually have any symptoms of disease.
2. One benefit about personal genetic testing that you learned that early identification and treatment greatly improved health and life expectancy. One concern about personal genetic testing may open up ethical or psychological problem.
3. If I could undergo personal genetic testing from 23andMe for free, I would do it because it may provide additional information about the increased risk from developing the disease. It may also provide relief from anxiety if I learn that I do not carry an altered gene.
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Sickle cell anemia affects about 70,000 people in the United States-mostly those who lived in Africa, India, Mediterranian, and Middle East. To get the disease individual must inherit two copies of the version of the SNP-one from each parent. I think this info is also helpful for this specific disease.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty scary, I didn't know all this before.
ReplyDeleteA very important and valid point raised in regards to the disease of Sickle Cell Anemia. Good information!
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