1) Search OMIM <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim/searchomim.html> for the word “fava”. Click on the “*305900” link; it will be very long but skim it to determine why a “deleterious” mutation is so prevalent in certain parts of the world. What selection pressures may have contributed to the high proportion of G6PD deficient individuals?
2) If G6PH is so important, how can these people live without it in their cells?
© Copyright 2002 Department of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035