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Thursday, March 23, 2006
Intermarriage and Genetic Diseases
Here's an interesting story from the New York Times about the practice of intermarriage among Bedouins in the Middle East and how this is having an effect on the prevelance of genetic diseases:
Until recently their ancestors were nomads who roamed the deserts of the Middle East and, as tradition dictated, often married cousins. Marrying within the family helped strengthen bonds among extended families struggling to survive the desert. But after centuries this custom of intermarriage has had devastating genetic effects.
Bedouins do not carry more genetic mutations than the general population. But because so many marry relatives — some 65 percent of Bedouin in Israel's Negev marry first or second cousins — they have a significantly higher chance of marrying someone who carries the same mutations, increasing the odds they will have children with genetic diseases, researchers say. Hundreds have been born with such diseases among the Negev Bedouin in the last decade.
Posted by Will at March 23, 2006 12:13 PM in General Science