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cynicalspacecactus t1_j1am4xc wrote

It appears the type of kidney cancer he had mostly affects those with sickle cell traits. I wonder if he had the sickle cell trait.

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Skeptix_907 t1_j1arxi7 wrote

Most people of African descent do to some extent, if I'm remembering correctly.

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dasteek9 t1_j1asm6s wrote

Sickle cell.along with thalesemia was an evolutionary trait to protect against malaria. 1 allele gives you protection against malaria, 2 alleles gives you sickle cell

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SkinniestPhallus t1_j1b9156 wrote

That's such an unfortunate genetic trait. There's a larger chance you get protected from malaria, but there's a lesser chance you also get sickle cell. Fucking brutal. Out of curiosity does having the allele twice provide stronger protection against malaria, the same level, less or none at all?

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captaincumsock69 t1_j1bh8n5 wrote

I believe having sickle cell anemia actually makes your chances of surviving malaria worse

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knsound t1_j1baqu8 wrote

Damn he had medullary renal cell carcinoma? Super aggressive ☹️

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