Summary
The rare recessive human genes which increase the mortality of inbred human beings may not all be kept in being by mutation. They may include relic genes which were useful in the past but are harmful today. They may also include genes kept in being by greater fitness of the heterozygote at loci where the other homozygote has a lowered fertility rather than a lowered viability.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Arner, G. B. L. (1908).Colombia Univ. studies in history, economics, and public law,31. No. 3, pp. 1–99.
Bemiss, S. M. (1858).Trans. Am. Med. Ass.,11, 319–425.
Dobzhaksky, Th. (1951).Genetics and the origin of species. Columbia University Press: New York.
Haldane, J. B. S. (1937). The effect of variation on fitness.Amer. Nat.,71, 337–349.
Haldane, J. B. S. (1954). The measurement of natural selection.Caryologia, Vol. Suppl., 480–487.
Kermack, K. A. (1954), A biometrical study ofMicraster coranguinum andM. (Isomicrater) senonensis.Phil. Trans.,B 237, 375–428.
Matthew, W. D. (1926). The evolution of the horse: a record and its interpretation.Quart. Rev. Biol.,1, 139.
Morton, N. E. Crow, J. F. And Muller, H. J. (1956). An estimate of the mutational damage in man from data on consanguineous marriages.Proc. Nat. Ac. Sci.,42, 855–863.
Neel, J. V. (1963). InGenetic Selection in man (p. 82). Ann Arbor: Univ. Mich.
Pearson, K., Lee, A. And Bramley-Moore, L. (1899). Mathematical contributions to the theory of evolution, VI.Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.,A 192, 257–330.
Sutter, J. And Tabah, L. (1952). Effects de la consanguinit’e et de l’endogamic.Population,7, 249–266.
Sutter, J. And Tabah, L. (1953), Structure de la mortalit’e dans les familles consanguines.Population,8, 511–526.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haldane, J.B.S., Jayakar, S.D. The nature of human genetic loads. J Genet 59, 53–59 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984144
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984144