Could deer hold clues about the link between malaria resistance and sickle cell?

Scientists have identified the genetic mutations that cause sickle cells in deer, according to new research Ecology & Evolution. The scientists from Imperial College London say although their research is in its early stages, it shows promise that certain species of deer might potentially be a surprising model in which to study the effects of sickling in humans such as resistance to malaria. The very mutation that causes debilitating symptoms is the same one that protects against malaria..We hope to discover why this is. Dr Tobias Warnecke Institute of Clinical Sciences The team of researchers led by Dr Tobias Warnecke from Imperial's Institute of Clinical Sciences , which included Professor Vincent Savolainen from the Department of Life Sciences , analysed the genetic make-up of sickled and non-sickled red blood cells (RBCs) in 15 species of deer, and compared them to our current knowledge of how the trait came about in humans. They found that the sickle trait in deer took a different evolutionary path to the trait in humans. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that distorts blood cell shape in humans. Where RBCs are usually doughnut shaped and easily pass through blood vessels, the trait misshapes RBCs into crescent or sickled formations.