Favist: A Homolytic Analysis

Diseases that affect organisms are often seen in negative light. Often, when people hear the word disease they are likely to think of microscopic organisms that harms the host it inhabits. However, scientists like Dr. Sharon Moalem would suggest that the modern day human diseases contributed to the survival of our ancestors. He states that the diseases we still have protected us from other diseases that were much worse. The reason why the diseases are still in existence in modern times is due to the evolutionary advantage it provided to our ancestors, that advantage gave humans the ability to live long enough to reproduce. To show his studies, Dr. Sharon Moalem wrote the book Survival of the Sickest where he explains how diseases like favism, …show more content…
The deficiency is carried by the X chromosome which makes the deficiency more common in males. People with favism lack sufficient amounts of the enzyme called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, also known as G6PD (Dr.Moalem 74). Although G6PD is thought to be present in every cell, it is essential in red blood cells for sustaining cellular integrity and preventing free radicals from destroying them. Thus, favism is a disease that targets red blood cells in the circulatory system . People with favism show symptoms of anemia or hemolytic anemia where there is very little red blood cells or the red blood cells burst. Other diseases that target red blood cells include sickle-cell anemia and thalassemia . J.B.S. Haldane (one of the first people to understand evolutionary pressure and its effects) suggested that sickle-cell anemia and thalassemia, helped its host better resist malaria (Dr.Moalem 89). Haldane's hypothesis was supported by the fact that evolution produces distinct traits in certain populations. In addition, Dr. Moalem states that a map of the world's fava bean …show more content…
No one knows that better than Eugene D. Weinberg, who in 1952, discovered through experimenting that giving iron to bacteria would create massive bacteria growth (Dr.Moalem 6). In humans, however, iron is necessary for a functioning metabolism as well as carrying and bonding oxygen to the bloodstream in the form of hemoglobin. Without iron the immune system would not be able to function properly and the body will experience extreme fatigue. One disease that interferes with the body's ability to manage iron levels is hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease common to people of Western European descent. Nearly one in every three descendents will have one copy of the gene (Dr.Moalem 3). Although many people may have the gene, not all people who have the gene have hemochromatosis; only one in two hundred experience the aliments related to it. Because of the wide range of other variables for it to manifest, it is considered to have a low penetrance rate. The origin for this hereditary disease is believed to be from Vikings that colonized the European coastline. As the Vikings settled, they populated Europe making the disease quite widespread (Dr.Moalem 14). Around 1347, the bubonic plague spread through Europe killing around 25 million Europeans. Those with hemochromatosis managed to survive and thus increasing the chance of passing the gene to the next generation. Those with hemochromatosis have a permanent