sickle cell trait

English

Noun

sickle cell trait (uncountable)

1. (medicine) A genotype, and the carrier state constituted by it, that is the heterozygous counterpart to sickle-cell disease (which involves a homozygous hit). It is not classified as a disease entity because it usually has little clinical effect (generally asymptomatic).

   Coordinate terms: sickle-cell disease, sickle-cell anemia

   • 2005, Sefi Atta, Everything Good Will Come, Arris Books, page 44:

     I learned from her that I carried the sickle cell trait, which meant I would never be sick, but my child could be, if my husband also carried the trait.