A Genetic Study of Inbreeding in Finland

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This grant allows Dr. Jorde and his collaborators to continue their analysis of Finnish population records which cover the period from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. These data are valuable not only for what they show about population distribution and the social class of individuals but because of the information they provide about marriage partners. It is possible for example to determine the distance between mates' birthplace. This allows population movement over time to be determined. What is even more interesting is the fact that marriages between close relatives can also be tracked. For example when first cousins wished to marry, a royal dispensation was required and these were recorded and saved. The project has three goals: 1: to determine spatial and temporal variation in inbreeding rates based on royal dispensation records; 2: to search for the causal variables which determine the spatial and temporal variation in inbreeding rates. A number of specific hypotheses will be tested; 3: to compare inbreeding patterns with spatial variation in the frequencies of autosomal recessive diseases. This research is important because it will shed additional light on the determinants of human breeding patterns. It will also help to explicate the relationship between inbreeding and recessive diseases. Finland has very high frequencies of at least 26 recessive diseases which are extremely rare elsewhere. By examining inbreeding in Finland one can help determine whether this disease distribution is due to founder effect, genetic drift or to inbreeding.