Compatibility of Sickling with Malaria

Abstract

Sickling phenomenon can be regarded as a particular characteristic of any race which shows it in the absence of admixture with another race in which it exists. Its higher incidence around the Mediterranean could be accounted for by the suggestion that some races of the Mediterranean basin, with a few exceptions in other parts of the world, appear to be more prone to develop a mutation affecting their blood-forming tissue. At the same time some unknown geophysical and other factors, one of which may possibly be malaria, favour the high frequency of this mutation in these areas of the globe.