Huffington Post: Sickle Cell in Primetime: How a Character Reveal on Shonda Rhime’s Grey’s Anatomy Renewed My Hope
It could be impossible to know when Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), prior to this fall, was last mentioned on primetime television and wasn’t used as an insult or the butt of a joke. Read the full article at the Huffington Post
Nature: Sickle-Cell Anemia: A Look at Global Haplotype Distribution
Can we predict that natural selection will weed out genetic disease over time? Sickle-cell trait haplotype distribution shows the genetic advantages of this mutation.
Read more at Nature.com
Congress: H.R.1807 – Sickle Cell Disease Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2015
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to states to: (1) collect data on the prevalence and distribution of sickle cell disease, (2) conduct sickle cell disease public health initiatives to improve access to care and health outcomes, and (3) identify and evaluate strategies for prevention and treatment of sickle cell disease complications. Read more at Congress.gov
The Washington Post: Sickle cell disease once meant a short and painful life, but now there’s growing hope
New research and better and more aggressive treatment have begun to change sickle cell disease from an inherited condition that often condemned children to painful and short lives into a condition that can be managed with less pain and has a better life expectancy. Read the full article at the Washington Post.
Teaching About Genetics and Sickle Cell Disease in Fifth Grade
A 5-lesson, 5th-grade instructional unit, “Genetics and Sickle Cell Disease,” was developed and tested as part of a 40-lesson curriculum. These results showthat genetics and sickle cell disease can be taught successfully in 5th grade, although they are not typically covered at this level.
Science Daily: Cure for sickle cell in adults validated
Physicians have cured 12 adult patients of sickle cell disease using a unique procedure for stem cell transplantation from healthy, tissue-matched siblings. The new technique eliminates the need for chemotherapy to prepare the patient to receive the transplanted cells and offers the prospect of cure for tens of thousands of adults suffering from sickle cell disease.