Would Sickle cell disease become less over many years if Malaria were to be eliminated.?
Theoretically yes, over many many years. You’re referring to the fact that people who are carriers of the disease (i.e. are not affected, but can pass the disease on to their children if the other parent is also a carrier) are less likely to die of malaria. This is obviously a survival advantage in areas of the world where malaria is a big problem e.g. Africa and Asia. The slight survival advantage therefore means that overall more sickle cell carriers will live to have children than those who are not carriers. The sickle cell genes therefore get passed onto future generations, and continue to cause disease. Therefore the elimination of malaria means the sickle cell genes lose their increased rate of transmission. This, together with the fact that people affected with sickle cell disease (as opposed to carriers, who are otherwise normal) are more likely to die young, means that the sickle cell genes could very slowly get wiped out over many hundreds of thousands of years.
