Assignment:
Instructions:
Develop a response to this question. Ensure you have answered all parts of the question completely. Complete this assignment described below using complete sentences in a paragraph format, and be sure to check your spelling when complete.
Please read the Discussion Board Directions located on the course menu on the left side of the screen before you begin to post or reply.
Topic:
Provide a detailed explanation for ONLY ONE of the following topics:
1. Why is color-blindness more common in males?
2. How is achondroplasia an example of a dominant trait that is relatively rare?
3. Why is it better to be a carrier of hemoglobin S sickle-cell if you live in a locality where malaria is a constant threat?
Respond to Others: Read the postings of your classmates and comment on at least one other student's response. Justify any comments you make with factual information.
Respond to this student down below:
Marlinna Glover Discussion
Why is it better to be a carrier of hemoglobin S sickle-cell if you live in a locality where malaria is a constant threat?
Malaria is a life-threatening disease, caused by the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted through mosquito bites. Many people that live in areas, like Africa, are known to be exposed to malaria, however, several people that live there also inherited sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease in which red blood cells reveal an abnormal crescent (or sickle) shape. The cause of sickle cell anemia was attributed unequivocally to a single base substitution in the DNA sequence of the gene encoding the beta chain of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the red blood cells.
Malarial parasite cannot undergo multiplication a sickle-shaped red blood cells to the spleen for elimination, consequently destroying the parasite. Another reason, is since the cell membrane of the sickled red blood cell is stretched by its unusual shape, it becomes porous. The sickled cell "leaks" nutrients, like potassium, that the parasite needs to survive, so the parasite dies. Hopefully these discoveries of having sickle sell anemia helps us better understand the dynamics at play during an infection with the malaria causing plasmodium parasite and could open the way to target and possibly treat malaria.