Sickle cell disease causes anemia, severe infections, excruciating pain and other symptoms. It is the leading cause of stroke in children. The genetic mutation responsible for the condition strikes primarily people of African heritage. A single copy of the mutated gene helps protect against malaria. Inheriting two copies, however, leads to sickle cell disease. Treatment has grown to encompass screening of newborns, immunization and antibiotics against common infections, drug therapy, transfusion and bone marrow transplant. Until recently, most children with the disease died young of infection. Now, 95 percent survive to age 18. Although much remains to be done, these treatment successes are turning a once-fatal disease into a manageable, chronic condition. In this lecture, George Buchanan, M.D., gives an overview of the discoveries that began with the first report in 1910 of the distinctly deformed, crescent-shaped blood cells that characterize sickle cell disease.