Molecular characteristics of α+-thalassemia (3.7 kb deletion) in Southeast Asia: Molecular subtypes, haplotypic heterogeneity, multiple founder effects and laboratory diagnostics

The 3.7 kb deletion (-α3.7) is the most common form of α+-thalassemia found in multiple populations which can be classified into three subtypes. In order not to mis-identify it, the molecular information within each population is required. We have addressed this in northeast Thai and Laos populations.Screening for α+-thalassemia was initially done on 1192 adult Thai subjects. In addition, 77 chromosomes of Thai newborns and 26 chromosomes of...