Amino Acids: Incorporation into α- and β-Chains of Hemoglobin by Normal and Thalassemic Reticulocytes

Abstract
After incubation of reticulocytes with radioactive amino acid, the specific activity of the β-chain of globin from the blood of patients with thalassemia was consistently lower than that of the α-chain. In subjects without this disorder, the specific activity of the β-chain was always equal to or higher than that of the α-chain.