TeachableMedicalNews article  04012020

Teachable moment in classrooms:

  1. cellular basis of life chapter – concept of one gene, one protein
  2. cellular basis of life chapter – concept of gene mutation leading to protein malfunction
  3. cellular basis of life chapter – adhesion proteins in plasma membrane
  4. blood chapter – red blood cell structure
  5. blood chapter – sickle cell anemia caused by globin gene mutation

The news item:  Recently a new drug, Adakveo, was approved to treat sickle cell anemia patients:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/20/novartis-wins-medicaid-approval-for-new-sickle-cell-drug-in-key-us-states.html

The article mentions that this disorder afflicts 100,000 people in the USA, that the disorder is caused by sickle shaped red blood cell, that the drug is a biological and injectable drug, and that the drug treats the pain crises of this disorder.

So, Why Do I Care??  There are millions of people living with this disease

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