Chemistry+Applications+Essay+54

The Chemistry of Sickle Cell Anemia  Sickle cell anemia, also known as hemoglobin S disease, is a genetic disease that can be passed on from a parent to a child. The disease causes red blood cells with bad hemoglobin proteins to form sickle shapes, which results in harm to the circulatory system. Although sickle cell anemia is mainly a topic of biology, there is plenty of chemistry involved in it as well; this essay will explain the chemistry of sickle cell anemia.  In red blood cells with sickle cell anemia, an incorrect DNA base causes the polypeptide hemoglobin to be created with the amino acid valine instead of the normal glutamic acid. While glutamic acid is hydrophilic and attracted toward the ions in water, valine is hydrophobic; its ions are repelled by the H+ and OH- ions that make up water. It turns inward to avoid water, causing the red blood cell with this defective hemoglobin to gain a sickle-like shape. These sickled cells that give sickle cell anemia its name cannot carry as much oxygen as normal red blood cells. In addition, the hydrophobic hemoglobin will attach to other hydrophobic hemoglobins because it is repelled by the water’s ions. A clump of red blood cells can form, and it can grow big enough to block blood flow through a blood vessel. Then, the body’s cells will not get the oxygen they need to carry out their various life-sustaining processes, and if the clotted blood is not treated quickly, the cells will die, which is obviously not good for the affected person.  The number of people affected with this disease in the world (estimated to be 90,000 to 100,000 people in America alone) demands solutions for this dreaded disease, and chemistry may be able to help. Understanding the chemistry in the nonpolar and polar amino acids that cause sticky sickle cells to sickle and stick may be the key to solving the problem of sickle cell anemia. In addition, an interesting thing about sickle cell anemia is that it is most prominent in Africa and India, which are also areas where malaria is common. This is because having the gene for sickle cell anemia can actually help protect the body from malaria. How this works is not fully understood, but with some research, this fact about sickle cell anemia could be used to help fight malaria and even other diseases.  Sickle cell disease is a relatively common disease that can be very harmful to those infected with it. It can be quite surprising that chemistry is greatly involved in what makes this biological defect so deadly. Although it can have beneficial effects for those in environments where malaria is common, sickle cell disease and its effects are an important topic today, not only for biologists, but for chemists as well. Works Cited: [|__http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sca/__] [|__http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/scd_background.html__] [|__http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001554/__] [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_anemia__] [|__http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110428123931.htm__] [|__http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html__]