2013/04/10 by Arindam RoyChoudhury, RoyChoudhury, Arindam
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Mathematics · Medicine · #Applications (stat.AP) #CRISPR and Genetic Engineering #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Hemoglobinopathies and Related Disorders #Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE) #q-bio.PE #stat.AP
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1304.2955
9 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2013/04/10 · openalex publication_date 2013/04/10 · arxiv updated 2013/04/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In a population practicing consanguineous marriage, rare recessive lethal alleles (RRLA) have higher chances of affecting phenotypes. As inbreeding causes more homozygosity and subsequently more deaths, the loss of individuals with RRLA decreases the frequency of these alleles. Although this phenomenon is well studied in general, here some hitherto unstudied cases are presented. An analytical formula for the RRLA frequency is presented for infinite monoecious population practicing several different types of inbreeding. In finite diecious populations, it is found that more severe inbreeding leads to quicker RRLA losses, making the upcoming generations healthier. A population of size 10,000 practicing 30% half-sib marriages loses more than 95% of its RRLA in 100 generations; a population practicing 30% cousin marriages loses about 75% of its RRLA. Our findings also suggest that given enough resources to grow, a small inbred population will be able to rebound while losing the RRLA.