One approach to clarify this would be to generate monocyte-derived dendritic cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, collected from healthy controls that are CD209 homozygote wild type and homozygote mutant, and between sickle cell disease groups, and evaluate the differential expression of CD14 (monocyte/macrophage marker) or DC-SIGN (dendritic cell marker). Here, CD209 is linked to sickle cell disease.