Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase d

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase de-
ficiency serves as a prototype of the
many human enzyme deficiencies that
are now known. Since its discovery more
than 50 years ago, the high prevalence of
the defect and the easy accessibility of
the cells that manifest it have made it a
favorite tool of biochemists, epidemiologists,
geneticists, and molecular biologists
as well as clinicians. In this brief
historical review, we trace the discovery
of this defect, its clinical manifestations,
detection, population genetics, and molecular
biology