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In reply to the discussion: Blacks have trouble clearing cervical cancer virus [View all]Beacool
(30,253 posts)Last edited Fri Apr 6, 2012, 12:18 PM - Edit history (2)
There are genetic markers that affect people of the same race. That's why when they search for bone marrow donors they specify the race of the donors that they need (based on the recipient's race).
It has nothing to do with racism.
Here's some info.
"Sickle-cell disease, usually presenting in childhood, occurs more commonly in people (or their descendants) from parts of tropical and sub-tropical regions where malaria is or was common. One-third of all indigenous inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa carry the gene,[4] because in areas where malaria is common, there is a fitness benefit in carrying only a single sickle-cell gene (sickle cell trait). Those with only one of the two alleles of the sickle-cell disease, while not totally resistant, are more tolerant to the infection and thus show less severe symptoms when infected.[5]
The prevalence of the disease in the United States is approximately 1 in 5,000, mostly affecting Americans of Sub-Saharan African descent, according to the National Institutes of Health.[6] In the United States, about 1 out of 500 African-American children born will have sickle-cell anaemia."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle-cell_disease