Homozygous β^6I mice have normal peripheral red blood cell morphology and normal hematologic parameters.

An oxygenated blood smear was prepared from a β^WT/β^WT mouse or a β^6I/β^6I mouse followed by May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining, magnification × 100. A sickling test was performed on the same fresh blood samples by viewing cell morphology under deoxygenating conditions after incubation in a 1% solution of sodium metabisulfite under coverslips, magnification × 200. A representative photomicrograph of each sample is shown.