What is sickle cell anaemia ?

Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary blood disorder characterized by an abnormality in haemoglobin molecule in the red blood cells. This is a disorder caused due to a point mutation in the ββ- globin chain of hemoglobin. There is a point mutation which replaces A by U and results in glutamic acid replaced by valine. This results in the formation of abnormal hemoglobin and sickle-shaped RBCs. The sickle-shaped RBCs clumps and gets damaged during flow.