What would happen to frequency of faulty allele of haemoglobin in places with higher incidences of malaria? Is it expected to rise?

1 Answer
May 23, 2017

The frequency of recessive allele for faulty haemoglobin molecule will increase in population where malaria outbreak has taken place.

Explanation:

People carrying one recessive faulty allele of HbS along with dominant normal allele of Hb remain safe from the attack of malaria. This is clearly an advantage in tropical mosquito infested countries where malaria is a common disease.

Normal homozygous individuals will be affected by malaria and some may eventually perish, but heterozygous individuals will remain healthy and would be able to reproduce in higher rate.

The faulty HbS allele is found in higher frequency where chances of infection of malaria was always high, as example in Africa.

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