A Board  thesis that presented by student Roshan Zuhair Jaber was discussed at the  University of Basrah - College of Medicine. The thesis aimed to look for the association between the phenotype and genetic mutation in alpha-thalassemia patients in Basrah. The thesis concluded that subjects with unexplained microcytic hypochromic anemia requires further investigations to exclude alpha-thalassemia and that molecular study is important in non-conclusive cases and to specify the type of mutation (deletional or non-deletional).