Friday, June 1, 2012

recessive genes

"Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University argues that when two hyper-systematisers meet and mate, they are more likely to have children who suffer from Asperger’s or its more severe cousin, autism. He has shown that children in Eindhoven, a technology hub in the Netherlands, are two to four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than children in two other Dutch towns of similar size."

Could increases in allergies, autism, etc. be a consequence of lower social mobility and thus increased likelihood of recessive gene pairing? 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Other thoughts on increasing incidence of allergies, etc.:

there seems to be some socioeconomic bias so wondering if it is an epigenetic issue (exposure of the parents to something in their childhoods or earlier). International travel as a youngster? Something else that only became more prevalent about 40 years ago but not so prevalent as to be commonplace?