University of Minnesota Feb 10 2026 A new breakthrough study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities could explain why patients with the same genetic sickle cell mutation experience different levels of pain, organ damage and response to treatment. The study published in  Science Advances , shows that the severity of sickle cell disease is not best predicted by the average "thickness" of a patient's blood, but by the specific behavior of a small population of highly "stiff"