Publisher Summary The chapter describes the understanding of the physics and physical
chemistry of sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization in solutions and in red cells. The
polymerization of sickle cell hemoglobin has probably become the best understood of all
protein self-assembly systems. The structure of the hemoglobin S molecule, the structure of
the various aggregated forms of hemoglobin S, and the structural analysis of the polymers
are discussed in the chapter. The chapter discusses the thermodynamics of hemoglobin S …