Why Do Mutations for Diseases like Sickle Cell Persist Across Generations? Biologically, We May Be Wired to Keep Them
An evolutionary force, called balancing selection, appears to be responsible for maintaining defects in our DNA associated with diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, because the mutation’s damaging effects might be offset — in a biological way of thinking — by its potential benefits. The study, “Excess of deleterious mutations…