If you contract the disease Malaria from a mosquito bite,

Last updated: 8/7/2022

If you contract the disease Malaria from a mosquito bite, chances are you will get sick and die. Those people who are homozygous dominant for this gene (having two copies of the normal / non sickle-cell allele) will get Malaria from such a Malaria carrying mosquito bite, and likely die. Those people that carry two copies of the sickle-cell allele are likely to die young (before having children of their own) because they will experience the sickle cell disease which causes massive vascular failure when their blood oxygen gets lowered, (as it does during strenuous exercise). In parts of the world which have high levels of malaria, (equatorial regions) this recessive, sickle-cell allele experiences selection because individuals who are heterozygous for it (carriers) won't get Malaria when bitten by a maria carrying mosquito (they are resistant to it), but also do not experience the sickle-cell disease (vascular failure as a result of low blood oxygen). Directional selection Stabilizing Selection Disruptive selection Additive selection