Sickle Cell Anemia

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1- What is the change in DNA
The cause of sickle cell anemia is the change of a single letter in the code of the DNA
One of the letter As switch to a T
2- What is the change in mRNA
In one nucleotide, it is changed from A to a U in the mRNA

DNA makes RNA and mRNA.

Since the DNA is faulty so is the mRNA

What is the change in amino acids?
Amino acid replacement is a change from one amino acid to a different amino acid due
to point mutation in DNA sequence. It is caused by nonsynonymous missense mutation
which alters the codon sequence to code other amino acid instead of the originals
4- What is the change in protein structure?

● Only changes one thing in the amino acid

● The amino acid that is changed is for hemoglobin, which
carries oxygen.
● Instead of glutamic acid, valine is made
● Reflects a single change in amino acid building blocks
● Can cause rigid, non-liquid protein strands to form within the red blood cells
● can cause rigid, non-liquid protein strands to form w
5-What is the consequences of the change in
protein structure
The change in protein structure causes the proteins to stick together and form long
chains. This causes the cell to become irregularly shaped.

The shape also causes the cell to be filtered out by the spleen which decreases the
number of hemoglobin cells circulating in the body
6-What is the change in cell shape

Usually disc shaped red blood

cells become crescent shaped
because the hemoglobin forms
into stiff rods within the cells.
7- How does the change in cell shape cause
symptoms of the disease
The sickle shaped of the diseased cell can get caught in small blood vessels and slow
down blood flow, which can show signs of symptoms of lack of oxygen. The cells also
become rigid, which makes it harder for them to move through the bloodstream.
8- How does the change in the cell protect
the person? (Wesley, Sebastian, and Tanner)
People have a statistically lower chance of dying of malaria if they have sickle cell
anemia, as the abnormal shaped and faulty gene helps combat the illness. The sickle
hemoglobin gets in the way of the Plasmodium parasite infecting red blood cells. There
is also a higher percentage of carriers of sickle cell anemia in malaria prone places.