Studying Tropical Genetic Blood Diseases

A conversation with David J Weatherall, from the New York Times, was the first to use tools of molecular biology to understand thalassemia. He was drafted to serve for the military in 1956. He had no pediatric training, so he then was put in charge of the children's ward. He came across a 2 year old girl, who had anemia. No one understood this, so Weatherall researched this young girls sickness, and came across Thalassemia. Thalassemia is a blood disorder passed down through families (inherited) genes in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Thalassemia is a terrible disease where most young children do not make it to adulthood. Often, men blame women because of this disease was passed down through genes. The truth, however, is that both parents' genes are responsible for this disease. Weatherall later used newly invented biochemistry techniques to see how a gene expresses the proteins that that make the molecules of hemoglobin. He found out that hemoglobin is made up of two different strings of amino acids, alpha and beta, that should bind together. Due to the defects in the alpha or beta chains, disease can be formed. David J Weatherall was one of the first to understand thalassemia. He received the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award for 50 years of international statesmanship in biomedical science.

This article is interesting because of one person, it changed David J Weatherall's life and career. He found out what thalassemia is and because of that one girl, it motivated him to look into and try to find a cure. This topic drew my attention because it gave me a better understand of hemoglobin and amino acids. This can be a very confusing topic, but with little research, i understood the points and what he was working towards finding out.