sickle-cell anaemia
sickle-cell anaemia
| Noun | 1. | sickle-cell anaemia - a congenital form of anemia occurring mostly in blacks; characterized by abnormal blood cells having a crescent shape |
| 单词 | sickle-cell anaemia | |||
| 释义 | sickle-cell anaemiasickle-cell anaemia
sickle-cell anaemiasickle-cell anaemia (SCA)a human abnormality in which defective HAEMOGLOBIN molecules (Hbs) cause the red blood cells to have a twisted ‘sickle’ shape resulting in major circulatory problems and eventually death. The condition is controlled by a single autosomal gene on chromosome 11, with two alleles, S and s . The mutant haemoglobin has one amino acid alteration in its beta chain, number six having changed from GLUTAMIC ACID to VALINE possibly as a result of SUBSTITUTION MUTATION. Sickle-cell anaemics have an s/s genotype, while heterozygotes (S/s) have a condition called sickle-cell ‘trait’ with a tendency for their blood to sickle at low oxygen tension. Although SELECTION operates strongly against individuals with SCA the mutant allele has remained at fairly high frequency in some populations (e.g. in Central Africa), probably because the heterozygotes are at an advantage relative to the normal (S/s) types in terms of resistance to the MALARIA PARASITE, producing a GENETIC POLYMORPHISM. In North America, however, SCA is a transient polymorphism amongst blacks of African descent since the malarial selection pressure has been removed and its frequency in the population is expected to fall, although the success of modern medical treatment in reducing mortality has the effect of preserving the gene in the population.sickle-cell anaemia
Synonyms for sickle-cell anaemia
|
|||
| 随便看 |
|
英语词典包含2567994条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。