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The Effect of Inbreeding on Mortality in Japan1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

William J. Schull  and
James V. Neel
William J. Schull
Affiliation:
Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
James V. Neel
Affiliation:
Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.

Extract

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A century ago, in the midst of a flurry of interest in consanguineous marriages, the Philadelphia Ledger observed, “If one half is true that has been affirmed in regard to the effect of cousins intermarrying, it would seem as if it were the duty of parents and guardians to interfere, and even of all State Legislatures to do what can be done to prevent so injurious a custom”. These sentiments were sufficiently widespread to be echoed in an editorial in the Times of India, dated August 9, 1860, and they might well be justified today if we could establish that, in fact, “one half that is affirmed is true”. Interests in the effect of consanguineous marriage are again high, but they now stem not from a concern for Levitical Law but from the powerful tool consanguinity affords in an appraisal of the relative importance of mutation versus selection in maintaining the genetic burden of a population. Clearly the value of this tool is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of data available.

Recently, numerous studies have been published relating inbreeding to infantile and juvenile mortality. Notable among these are the studies of Sutter and Tabah (summarized in Sutter, 1958) in France, of Böök (1957) in Sweden, of Slatis, Reis, and Hoene (1958) in the United States, of Freire-Maia (1961) in Brazil, of Zerbin-Rüdin (1960) in Germany, and of a number of workers including ourselves in Japan. These studies differ markedly in size, scope, and design. In all, save our own, the mortality data are essentially retrospective in character. Experiences such as those with rubella in pregnancy should make us acutely aware of the possible biased nature of such observations. Be this as it may, it is the purpose of this paper to present the results of a continuing, anterospective investigation of the effects of inbreeding on mortality in Japan.

Type
Simposio II/Symposium II (9 Settembre)
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , July 1962 , pp. 292 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1962

Footnotes

1

This work is a portion of a Child Health Survey sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Association for Aid to Crippled Children, and the U.S. Public Health Service. Without the greatly appreciated logistic and professional support of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, a research agency of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, and the Japanese National Institute of Health, this study could not have been undertaken. The cordial and continuing relationship between the Child Health Survey and the Subcommittee on Consanguinity Effects of the Committee on Genetics of the Japan Science Council contributed materially to the success of this Survey. Analysis of the data was carried out under a grant to the University of Michigan by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Contract AT (11-1)-942. The important role played in these studies by Drs. A. L. Drew, N. Fujiki, R. Miller, J. Niswander, K. Ohkura, J. N. Spuhler, and T. Yanase is gratefully acknowledged.

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