fetal hemoglobin

noun

: a hemoglobin variant that predominates in the blood of a newborn and persists in increased proportions in some forms of anemia (such as thalassemia)

Examples of fetal hemoglobin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That approach required taking bone marrow cells out of the body, making a disabling cut in a particular gene that regulates fetal hemoglobin, treating the patient with chemotherapy to make room in the marrow, and then reinfusing the edited cells. —Francis Collins, WIRED, 7 Jan. 2025

The form of hemoglobin that babies make at birth, called fetal hemoglobin (HbF), isn’t affected by the sickle mutation. —Sara Reardon, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024

Before birth a fetus with the disease has healthy red blood cells because fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is dominant at that point and is unaffected by the sickle cell mutation. —Ambroise Wonkam, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024

Since the 1990s, clinicians have observed that sickle cell patients with higher levels of fetal hemoglobin tend to live longer. —Charlotte Hu, Vox, 6 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

fetal hemoglobin

noun

: hemoglobin that consists of two alpha chains and two gamma chains and that predominates in the blood of a newborn and persists in increased proportions in some forms of anemia (as thalassemia)

called also hemoglobin F