In 1910, Dr. James B. Herrick published Western medical literature's first description of a person with sickle cell disease. Soon, other physicians reported patients with similar symptoms and confirmed the characteristic feature of the disease: elongated red blood cells. In 1922, the peculiar shape of the cells inspired the official name for the disorder. Within 30 years, scientists had learned about the cause of sickle cell disease - an abnormal form of hemoglobin. "Sickle Cell Disease" explores the scientific discoveries that led to an understanding of the genetic basis of the disease,...