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UK to Investigate Whether "consanguineous" Marriages Could Lead to Genetic Disorders
Over a billion people worldwide live in regions where 20%-50% of marriages are consanguineous - that is where the partners are descended from the same ancestor Professor Alan Bittles, director for the centre for human genetics in Perth Australia has collated data on infant mortality in children born within first-cousin marriages from around the world and found that the extra increased risk of death is 1.2%.
In terms of birth defects, he says, the risks rise from about 2% in the general population to 4% when the parents are closely related.
"There has been a bit of a push of people saying that consanguineous marriage is dangerous and should be banned but before we start making decisions on that we need to look at the data," he says.
The genetic conditions more common in populations with high rates of consanguineous marriage are rare recessive disorders which cause a wide range of problems, such as blindness, deafness, skin diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions.
We all carry gene mutations and sometimes, such as in the case of cystic fibrosis, they are fairly common in the general population, writes Emma Wilkinson in BBC.
But when a population has a small gene pool the gene mutation can become more frequent.
If two people carrying a recessive gene reproduce, their children have a one in four chance of having the disorder and a one in two chance of becoming carriers themselves.
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More News on: Amniocentesis, Genetics and Stem Cells, How to Save your marriage, Down Syndrome, Divorce: Pros and Cons
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