The reason for the great number of birth defects in the ultra orthodox
community is because the gene pool is restricted. This occurs in other
culturally isolated groups such as the Amish. Increased relatedness
between parents increases the chance that the same 2 damaged alleles
(recessive genes) will come together in their children, causing the
disorder/defect caused by the absence of that gene product to be
expressed. From a genetic standpoint, reproducing with someone as
different as possible from you in ethnicity/country of origin is
advantageous for your children (heterozygote superiority).
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC New York City mailto:[log in to unmask]
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html