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| Britain |
| Professor risks political storm over Muslim 'inbreedingÂ’ |
| 2011-05-29 |
| Prof Steve Jones, one of Britain’s most eminent scientists, has warned that the level of inbreeding among the nation’s Muslims is endangering the health of future generations. “It is common in the Islamic world to marry your brother’s daughter, which is actually closer than marrying your cousin. “We should be concerned about that as there can be a lot of hidden genetic damage. Children are much more likely to get two copies of a damaged gene.” He added: “Bradford is very inbred. There is a huge amount of cousins marrying each other there.” Research in Bradford has found that babies born to Pakistani women are twice as likely to die in their first year as babies born to white mothers, with genetic problems linked to inbreeding identified as a “significant” cause. Studies have found that within the city, more than 70 per cent of marriages are between relations, with more than half involving first cousins. Separate studies have found that while British Pakistanis make up three per cent of all births, they account for one in three British children born with genetic illnesses |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 I saw a BBC doc on the same subject. Muslim universally defended cousin' marriages, on grounds of piety enhanced by bloodline. And they held to those views, in face of proof of the inevitable birth defects from inbreeding. Further, their is the internal example of the Isle of Mann, where inbreeding stunted locals. (Cat lovers would know what a Manx Cat is; in the isle of Mutts, most cats are stunt-tailed "manx." |
| Posted by: Shusoque Spawn of the Algonquins3644 2011-05-29 22:28 |
| #6 IIRC reading in National Geographic (?) a number of years ago about worries in the Amish and Mennonite communties about this -- except I think the Amish and Mennonites are being a leeeetle bit more sensible about this. One of the points that I remember vividly is that just about all of the Mennonites in the US, Canada and Mexico are descended (one way or another)from six couples from 16th century middle-Europe. The various Mennonite communites encouraged their young men to go to another community, in order to court a wife. But still -- near-sightedness was endemic, according to that article. Among the Amish (which are sort of related and also kinda inbred)there is a higher-than-average occurances of that mutation for extra fingers and ties. Mild as far as genetic defects go, I suppose. My grandmother was from the Pennsylvania Quaker community, and she had some cautionary tales about the results of inbreeding there, also. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2011-05-29 20:06 |
| #5 Let's get the entire inbred clan out to protest. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 2011-05-29 15:14 |
| #4 Among the Amish this has been a problem for years. They encourage mixing blood with the English to correct the problem. Many ailments they currently suffer. Young men and women usually have all their teeth pulled. Heart, hearing and diabetes are also major problems. I should add cerebral palsy and epileptic seizures also plaque them. Very hard workers and long hours on the farm are normal for them. So what I am saying is hard work does not give you a pass on diet. More accurately your genetic history will tell the tale. Just my observations over time. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-05-29 13:50 |
| #3 A custom that should be encouraged. |
| Posted by: 49Pan 2011-05-29 11:56 |
| #2 'Health of future generations' is true but exaggerates the significance. Problems with this kind of inbreeding radically fall off as soon as people mate outside of their close relations. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-05-29 11:42 |
| #1 Good for the good professor. This has been talked about for years, with concommittant cries of "Islamophobia!". Perhaps a blood/DNA test should be required before marriage, to ensure the happy couple have neither nasty diseases nor are too closely related... at least for the Pakistani segment of the population. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-05-29 10:13 |