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In a paper published 77 years ago, double Nobel Prize laureate Linus Pauling described the discovery of sickle cell anaemia as the first 'molecular disease'. He was able to prove the disease was caused by a change produced in a protein molecule called haemoglobin. Pauling's discovery opened up new possibilities for research into these types of diseases.
Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited form of anaemia, where the red blood cells become rigid and sticky and consequently don't move easily through your blood vessels. These abnormal blood cells are shaped like a crescent, or sickle.