Abstract
WHEN the sickle cell trait was found to be present in a number of Veddoid communities of southern India1, it was also found that their rhesus chromosome distribution showed features differing from those of other Indian populations, and that it was more like those found in South-East Asia, Australasia, and especially in the Australian aboriginals. We therefore examined seventy-two Australian aboriginals for the presence of the sickle cell trait, but found that none of them showed this abnormality2. Since then, other abnormal hæmoglobins besides the sickle cell hæmoglobin have been discovered. One of them, hæmoglobin E, was found in the Veddas of Ceylon3, and while the presence of sickling was confirmed in those Veddoid populations of India in whom it had been originally described, several other Veddoid populations4—including the Veddas themselves3—were found to be free from sickling. We decided, therefore, to examine once more Australian aboriginals, this time for the presence of hæmoglobin E.
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References
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HORSFALL, W., LEHMANN, H. Absence of Abnormal Hæmoglobins in some Australian Aboriginals. Nature 177, 41–42 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177041b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177041b0
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