Page 66 - The Miracle of the Blood and Heart

THE MIRACLE OF THE
BLOOD AND HEART

result ruins the blood and kills the organism! 32
If you randomly remove one of the amino acids that con-
stitute hemoglobin, or randomly switch the positions of any
two of them, then the protein may either become defective or
else lose most or all of its function. The best example of this is
sickle cell anemia, which has already been discussed in previ-
ous pages. The sole cause for the occurrence of this disease,
which has very grave symptoms and for which a cure has not
yet been found, is that just two of the amino acids in the
sequence constituting hemoglobin have changed places. This
disease manifests itself when just
Alpha chain Beta chain
two of the 287 amino acids that
go to make up hemoglobin
are in the wrong place.
Nobel Prize-winner Prof.

Alpha chain

Beta chain
Heme
At least 120 mutations are nec-
essary in order for the alpha
and beta chains that comprise
hemoglobin to turn into one
another. However, a variation
in just one amino acid in this
sequence may destroy the
blood cells. The cause of sick-
le cell anemia is just
one such muta-
tion.
Harun
Yahya

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