perseus
Active member
I saw a documentary on the controversial subject of inter-racial interbreeding the other night, which is not good news for the likes of Nick Griffin.
It is well known that inbreeding in animals puts a population at increased risk for mutations and genetic diseases, while outbreeding tends to do the opposite and reduces the risk of an inferior phenotype. However, there is some empirical evidence that this effect occurs in human populations in countries where relevant epidemiological data exists for different racial groups.
Tay-Sachs is a notorious example of the consequence of limited genetic diversity in Jewish populations. However this can happen to human populations in general. A study in Kenya showed that children with the greatest genetic diversity were most likely to live beyond 5 years, and the effect was highly marked.
How important genetic differences are over environmental factors is still a matter of debate. I would guess that diversity is less important in reaching old age in highly developed populations or else Japan and Iceland wouldn't lead the longevity indices.
Some more information is here.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/...d-race/articles/is-it-better-to-be-mixed-race
It is well known that inbreeding in animals puts a population at increased risk for mutations and genetic diseases, while outbreeding tends to do the opposite and reduces the risk of an inferior phenotype. However, there is some empirical evidence that this effect occurs in human populations in countries where relevant epidemiological data exists for different racial groups.
Tay-Sachs is a notorious example of the consequence of limited genetic diversity in Jewish populations. However this can happen to human populations in general. A study in Kenya showed that children with the greatest genetic diversity were most likely to live beyond 5 years, and the effect was highly marked.
How important genetic differences are over environmental factors is still a matter of debate. I would guess that diversity is less important in reaching old age in highly developed populations or else Japan and Iceland wouldn't lead the longevity indices.
Some more information is here.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/...d-race/articles/is-it-better-to-be-mixed-race