Sickle cell disease refers to a group of genetic blood disorders mainly affecting people of African, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Caribbean decent. Those with sickle cell disease carry the abnormal hemoglobin S in their red blood cells due to a mutation of the β-globin gene. Instead of having flexible, disc-shaped red blood cells, affected individuals have characteristic sickle-shaped, more rigid cells that cause disturbances in blood flow and tissue oxygenation.
The what, why and how hematopoietic stem cells are dominating the regenerative medicine space
Post WWII many soldiers owed their lives to spleen and bone marrow stem cell transplants. Much later we find out that it was the presence of hematopoietic stem cells that was responsible for cell re-population.