The objectives of the Center are to provide service and to conduct and promote clinical and basic research by: (a) educating the population about the disease, and providing information and counseling to those who carry the abnormal gene; (b) educating medical, allied health service personnel, and other professionals in the study and care of patients with sickle cell anemia; (c) providing the opportunity for quality testing to anyone who desires such a service; (d) conducting clinical research through an analysis of the factors determining the severity of sickle cell anemia in adults; a study of sickle cell anemia and other hemoglobinopathies in young children; and a cardiac evaluation of children with sickle cell anemia; (e) conducting basic research through studies of hemoglobin aggregation by X-ray diffraction and circular dichroism; immunological identification and characterization of hemoglobin variants; investigations of factors influencing the expression of the Hb beta S gene through analyses of hemoglobin components; and studies of phospholipases as probes of the sickle cell membrane.