Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Detection of Residual Donor Erythroid Progenitor Cells after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Patients with Hemoglobinopathies
Published on: September 6, 2017
Molecular characterization of alpha-thalassemia in the Mexican population
Virginia Reyes-Núñez1, Javier Garcés-Eisele, Susan Jorge
1Laboratorios Clínicos de Puebla.
Background:
alpha-Thalassemia (alpha-Thal) has been poorly characterized at the molecular level in Mexico.
Methods:
106 consecutive individuals identified in Laboratorios Clínicos de Puebla, with either hypochromia (MCH < 24 pg) and/or microcytosis (MCV < 75 fl in women or < 80 fl in man), without iron deficiency, with or without anemia were investigated in this study, along a 16 month-period. alpha and beta-Thal were looked for, the former were characterized at the molecular level.
Results:
Out of the 106 consecutive cases with hypochromia and/or microcytosis and normal levels of protoporphyrin zinc complex, 48 cases (45.3%) had thalassemia (37 cases of betaThal and 11 cases of alphaThal), whereas in 58 cases (54.7%) a definite diagnosis could not be established. Of the alpha-Thal cases, 8 were heterozygous and two were homozygous for the -alpha3.7 deletion, whereas one case was heterozygous for the alpha2Hph allele.
Conclusions:
Only few of the alpha-Thal alleles tested were found, thus the alpha-thalassemic mutations, present in the studied population, seem to be rather heterogeneous.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Multiple Allele Traits
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
Blood Types
ABO blood group
ABO antigens are glycoproteins encoded by genes present on...
Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life

