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Hemochromatosis Research Paper

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Moalem describes hemochromatosis as a hereditary disease in which a person has an overabundance of iron in their blood. Despite iron being a crucial metal to most life on Earth - humans, parasites, and phytoplankton alike - an overabundance of the metal has detrimental effects on the body. When left untreated, hemochromatosis can cause “liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, and even cancer” (Moalem 2). Since the disease is hereditary, evidently hemochromatosis has been passed on from generation-to-generation for quite some time. However, when applying this to the theory of natural selection, it seems unreasonable for a harmful disease to constantly be passed on if it does not improve living conditions …show more content…

In order to justify some of the benefits of the hemochromatosis gene, it is important to mention that a hemochromatic person has an uneven concentration of iron in their bloodstream. Although there is plenty of iron to go around, not all of it is distributed evenly. Certain white blood cells called macrophages are among those cells in the bloodstream that do not receive a sufficient amount of iron in a hemochromatic bloodstream. Normally, macrophages act as guards for the blood against foreign invaders, and when they find a virus, they bind to it and bring it back to the lymph nodes for filtering the foreign particle. Sometimes, this process backfires. Since (almost) all organisms on Earth thrive on iron, the virus that is attached to the macrophage starts to feed on the iron in the cell. By the time the macrophage and virus reach the lymph node, the virus is stronger after consuming the iron, and is able to multiply and invade the lymphatic system. In a hemochromatic person, however, the macrophages are starved of

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