NEET BIOLOGY

GENETICS AND EVOLUTION

GENETIC BASIS OF INHERITANCE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
The genetic advantage to being a carrier for sickle cell anemia is that it helps prevent malaria.
A
True
B
False
C
Either A or B
D
None of the above
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Does sickle cell anemia also protect against malaria? Having sickle cell trait provides malarial protection, but having sickle cell anemia (HbSS) does not. A study of children in Kenya between 16 months and 2 years old showed that those with HbSS had the lowest chance of surviving malaria.

Detailed explanation-2: -Sickle cell trait (AS) confers partial protection against lethal Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Multiple mechanisms for this have been proposed, with a recent focus on aberrant cytoadherence of parasite-infected red blood cells (RBCs).

Detailed explanation-3: -The sickle cell trait provides a survival advantage against malaria fatality over people with normal hemoglobin in regions where malaria is endemic. The trait is known to cause significantly fewer deaths due to malaria, especially when Plasmodium falciparum is the causative organism.

There is 1 question to complete.