This Month in Genetics

Despite the fact that we categorize sickle cell disease as an autosomal-recessive trait, carriers of the sickle cell mutation might not remain clinically unaffected. The so-called sickle cell trait has been implicated in sudden death and in  exertional rhabdomyolysis, and some studies have measured a substantially increased risk of these outcomes in this population. What has been lacking is a thorough, longitudinal population-based study, a project that has now been completed by Nelson et al. The authors accessed data from the Stanfo rd Military Data Repository, a resource that includes all inpatient and outpatient electronic medical records for active-duty soldiers in the United States Army.
Source: The American Journal of Human Genetics - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Editors ’ Corner Source Type: research