Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease that affects the red blood cells. your red blood cells are typically donut shaped and have the job of carrying oxygen around your body. in people with sickle cell anemia, the blood cells become crescent-shaped and are thick and sticky. they are not as able to carry oxygen, and can even get clogged in the blood vessels blocking the flow of blood, and therefore oxygen to organs, causing pain and organ damage. sickle cell is caused by a genetic mutation that changes a single glutamic acid to valine in the 6th amino acid position. determine what mutation likely occurred to cause the change from glutamic acid (glu) to valine (val). to get you started, it is to know that a person with no sickle cell at amino acid #6 has a dna code of ctc. this is really important and urgent.