A Genetic Study of Inbreeding in Finland

这笔赠款使Jorde博士和他的合作者能够继续分析从17世纪到20世纪的芬兰人口记录。这些数据很有价值，不仅因为它们显示了人口分布和个人的社会阶层，还因为它们提供了关于婚姻伴侣的信息。例如，可以确定配偶出生地之间的距离。这样就可以确定人口随时间的流动情况。更有趣的是，近亲之间的婚姻也可以被追踪。例如，当堂兄弟姐妹希望结婚时，需要皇室授予，这些都被记录下来并保存下来。该项目有三个目标：1：根据王室分配记录确定近亲交配率的空间和时间变化；2：寻找决定近亲交配率空间和时间变化的因果变量。一些具体的假设将被检验；3：比较近亲交配模式和常染色体隐性遗传病频率的空间变异。这项研究很重要，因为它将进一步阐明人类繁殖模式的决定因素。这也将有助于阐明近亲繁殖和隐性疾病之间的关系。芬兰至少有26种隐性疾病的频率非常高，这在其他地方是极其罕见的。通过研究芬兰的近亲繁殖，人们可以帮助确定这种疾病的分布是由于创始人效应、遗传漂移还是近亲繁殖。

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.