Mutations?

[silver wolf009]

I should have specified. HUMAN mutation.

Sickle cell is a mutation. It gives a natural resistance to malaria, ergo beneficial.

So is albanism (being albino), isnt it? Im not sure but I think thats true.

Also sickle cell also has some negative effect to. Apperantly it really hurts when a blood cell gets caught on a turn.

 

[sheic99]

I should have specified. HUMAN mutation.

Sickle cell is a mutation. It gives a natural resistance to malaria, ergo beneficial.

So is albanism (being albino), isnt it? Im not sure but I think thats true.

Also sickle cell also has some negative effect to. Apperantly it really hurts when a blood cell gets caught on a turn.

Perhaps I should be a tad more specific about what I mean by beneficial. What I mean by that is simply, heterozygous individuals are less likely to develop malaria and die, which in turn increases the chance of reproduction. In terms of natural selection, anything that increases the likely hood that an organism, be it plant, animal or otherwise, will reproduce can be viewed as beneficial.

On the topic of albinism, I don't know much about it, but according to wiki there doesn't seem to be any positive effect, so no probably not.

Edit: Forget to answer one part, yes I am aware of the negative effects of sickle cell anemia, which generally goes unnoticed in carriers.

 

[TrilbyUK]

snipity

My apologies, I did not mean dominant in the genetic sense. I meant that the phenotype created by the new mutation becomes the one most often observed in the population.

Don't worry about it. When discussing genetics & evolution, it's best to avoid the term "dominant" unless you're referring to the relationship between different alleles.