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    The Sickle Cell Allele and Malaria Igcse

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    Tanyaradzwa Muguta
    1) The sickle cell allele (HbS) results in abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped red blood cells, causing sickle cell anemia when homozygous (HbS HbS). However, those who are heterozygous (HbS HbA) have resistance to malaria. 2) In areas where malaria is common, the sickle cell allele persists in populations because heterozygotes have protection from malaria without severe anemia, conferring an evolutionary advantage. 3) The global distribution of the sickle cell allele coincides with regions where malaria is common, due to this selective pressure over time.

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    The Sickle Cell Allele and Malaria Igcse

    Uploaded by

    Tanyaradzwa Muguta
    75 views11 pages
    1) The sickle cell allele (HbS) results in abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped red blood cells, causing sickle cell anemia when homozygous (HbS HbS). However, those who are heterozygous (HbS HbA) have resistance to malaria. 2) In areas where malaria is common, the sickle cell allele persists in populations because heterozygotes have protection from malaria without severe anemia, conferring an evolutionary advantage. 3) The global distribution of the sickle cell allele coincides with regions where malaria is common, due to this selective pressure over time.

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    1) The sickle cell allele (HbS) results in abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped red blood cells, causing sickle cell anemia when homozygous (HbS HbS). However, those who are heterozygous (HbS HbA) have resistance to malaria. 2) In areas where malaria is common, the sickle cell allele persists in populations because heterozygotes have protection from malaria without severe anemia, conferring an evolutionary advantage. 3) The global distribution of the sickle cell allele coincides with regions where malaria is common, due to this selective pressure over time.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    75 views11 pages

    The Sickle Cell Allele and Malaria Igcse

    Uploaded by

    Tanyaradzwa Muguta
    1) The sickle cell allele (HbS) results in abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped red blood cells, causing sickle cell anemia when homozygous (HbS HbS). However, those who are heterozygous (HbS HbA) have resistance to malaria. 2) In areas where malaria is common, the sickle cell allele persists in populations because heterozygotes have protection from malaria without severe anemia, conferring an evolutionary advantage. 3) The global distribution of the sickle cell allele coincides with regions where malaria is common, due to this selective pressure over time.

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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 11

    THE SICKLE CELL ALLELE AND

    MALARIA
    IGCSE
    Syllabus objectives
    • Describe the symptoms of sickle-cell anaemia
    • • Explain how a change in the base sequence of the gene
    for haemoglobin results in abnormal haemoglobin and
    sickle-shaped red blood cells
    • • Use genetic diagrams to show how sickle-cell anaemia is
    inherited
    • • State that people who are heterozygous (HbS HbA) for
    the sickle-cell allele have a resistance to malaria
    • • Explain the distribution of the sickle-cell allele in human
    populations with reference to the distribution of malaria
    Sickle cell allele
    • Haemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen.
    • Because it is a protein , the instructions for
    making it are carried in the DNA of a gene.
    • The gene has 2 alleles :
    1) The normal allele which codes for production of
    normal haemoglobin . It is represented as HbA
    2) The abnormal allele which is a result of
    mutation is represented as HbS
    Sickle-cell anaemia
    • If a person inherits both recessive alleles (HbSHbS) for
    sickle-cell haemoglobin, then he or she will exhibit
    signs of the disease, i.e. distortion of the red cells
    leading to severe bouts of anaemia.
    • A heterozygote HbAHbs, however, will have a
    condition called ‘sickle-cell trait’. Although there may
    be mild symptoms of anaemia the condition is not
    serious or life-threatening.
    • In this case, the normal haemoglobin allele HbA) is not
    completely dominant over the recessive (HbS allele.
    SICKLE CELL ALLELE AND MALARIA
    • In many African countries, sufferers have a reduced chance of reaching reproductive
    age and having a family.
    • There is thus a selection pressure, which tends to remove the homozygous recessives
    from the population.
    • In such a case, you might expect the harmful HbS allele to be selected out of the
    population altogether.
    • However, the heterozygotes (HbAHbS) have virtually no symptoms of anaemia but do
    have the advantage that they are more resistant to malaria than the homozygotes
    HbAHbA
    • It appears that the malaria parasite is unable to invade and reproduce in the sickle
    cells.
    • The selection pressure of malaria, therefore, favours the heterozygotes over the
    homozygotes and the potentially harmful HbS allele is kept in the
    • population .
    • When Africans migrate to countries where malaria does not occur, the selective
    advantage of the HbSallele is lost and the frequency of this allele In the population
    diminishes
    POSSIBLE GENOTYPES AND ADVANTAGES
    • The possible genotypes are:
    HbAHbA normal haemoglobin, no anaemia
    • HbSHbS abnormal haemoglobin, sickle cells anaemia (life-threatening)
    •
    Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite that invades red
    blood cells (Plasmodium). The parasite is carried by some species of
    mosquito. 
    A person who is heterozygous HbAHbS for sickle cell anaemia
    has protection from malaria, because the malaria parasite is unable to invade
    and reproduce in the sickle cells. 
    • A person who is homozygous for sickle cell anaemia HbSHbS  also
    has protection, but is at high risk of dying form sickle cell anaemia. 
    • A person with normal haemoglobin HbAHbA in a malarial country is at high
    risk of contracting malaria.
    Sickle-cell anaemia (×800). At low oxygen
    concentration the red cells become distorted
    DISTRIBUTION OF SICKLE CELL ALLELE AND
    MALARIA
    DISTRIBUTION OF SICKLE CELL ALLELE AND
    MALARIA
    • When the distributions of malaria and sickle
    cell anaemia are shown on a map of the work,
    it is found that the two coincide in tropical
    areas because of the selective advantage of
    the HbS  allele in providing protection against
    malaria.
    • Hb Hb x Hb Hb

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