How does sickle cell anemia gets passed from parent to child?

Question

I understand mostly about how traits are passed through parents to children, but how does the exact mutation for sickle cell get passed down onto a child? I’m so confused.

In: 3

Answer 1

It does get passed from parent to child. The sickle cell variant of one specific gene causes sickle cell anemia. Only if a person has the sickle cell variant from each parent will that person suffer from sickle cell anemia (really bad news). If a person has one sickle cell variant gene and one non-sickle cell variant, that person is immune to malaria (fantastic news, if that person lives in a place where malaria).