Hematological and hemoglobin composition data are presented for seven Arabian SS patients with mild disease and with high Hb F levels varying between 21 and 34%. Four patients were homozygous for a beta S chromosome with a specific haplotype (#31). The data for these four patients were similar to those for three other SS patients (and for five patients reported earlier, Ref. 2) who were heterozygous for the same beta S chromosome (#31) and for a beta S chromosome with another haplotype (mainly #19). These data offer additional evidence indicating that the increased gamma chain production is specific for the beta S chromosome with haplotype #31. The similarities in hematological data and Hb F levels between these two groups of SS patients and the normal Hb F value in Hb S heterozygotes with beta S chromosome (#31) support the suggestion that the increased Hb F production mainly occurs in response to the anemia of the sickle cell disease.

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The populations of two Western Desert Egyptian oases have been studied for various genetic markers of the blood and some anthropological characters. Hb AS was found in 9%. Blood group frequencies were similar in both oases; 10.2% were RhD-negative, G-6-PD deficiency was found in 7.5 %; Gd^A had a frequency of 1 % in El-Kharga and 16% in El-Dakhla; PGDC was 5.5% in El-Kharga and 6.2 % in El-Dakhla. All individuals examined were homozygous for AK¹; acid phosphatase gene frequencies in El-Kharga were P^a = 0.1475, P^c = 0.0164, P^r= 0.0164; in El-Dakhla, P^a = 0.0667, P^c = 0.00, P^r = 0.0333; in El-Kharga the Hp gene had a frequency of 0.4415, Hpo-o = 8.29%; in El-Dakhla, Hp¹ had a frequency of 0.3245, Hpo-o = 3.39%. The information provided points to a mixture of Caucasian and negroid features in the populations studied. The negroid influence is more marked in the El-Dakhla oasis. Head measurements show that El-Kharga males reveal more Caucasoid stock and are closer to the Upper Egyptians than most populations of the neighboring oases.

Anthropological studies were done on 1276 Libyans from the Mediterranean cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, and from Sabha southward in The Sahara. The incidences of hemoglobin (Hb)-S and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency were low in the coastal areas and significantly high in Sabha. Hb-C occurred sporadically in Tripoli and Sabha, and was absent from Benghazi in the east. One case of Hb-J Benghazi was noted. There were no sigificant differences in the ABO blood group and Rh0 (D) type distributions in the three localities. G-6-PD gene GdAfrequency was significantly high in Sabha. The lowest value of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD) gene PGDA frequency and highest value of the gene PGDC were in Sabha. Adenylate kinase (AK) gene AK2 was only detectable in Tripoli. Acid phosphatase (AP) gene Pa frequency in Sabha was more than twice that in Tripoli and Benghazi, while pc was distinctly lower in Sabha than in the northern cities. Haptoglobin gene Hp1 frequency was almost identical in all areas. Anthropometric measurements revealed overall homogeneity of the three samples, closer similarity in the coastal region to adjacent North African populations, and Negroid influence in the Sahara Libyans. Anthropometry substantiated findings from blood markers.

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