genetic

[pizza1994]

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If there is an autosomal recessive disorder what are some reasons it may be more common in a rural town versus a city?

All I can think of is perhaps there is a lot of close relative mating in the rural town and maybe the people in the rural town are of a certain ethnic group where the disease is more common....

can someone help pleaseeee! thank you

 

[aldol16]

Your reasoning is good. People in the town tend to have fewer mating choices so the genetic pool is limited, leading to an overrepresentation of recessive alleles if the progenitors of people in that rural town had those recessive alleles. You can think of it as kind of a founder's effect.

Close relative mating is also more likely than in the general population because many people from rural areas tend to stay in rural areas and don't mate with people outside their immediate vicinity. As a personal anecdote, it's more common for descendants of rural people to go to the city than the other way around.

 

[pizza1994]

Your reasoning is good. People in the town tend to have fewer mating choices so the genetic pool is limited, leading to an overrepresentation of recessive alleles if the progenitors of people in that rural town had those recessive alleles. You can think of it as kind of a founder's effect.

Close relative mating is also more likely than in the general population because many people from rural areas tend to stay in rural areas and don't mate with people outside their immediate vicinity. As a personal anecdote, it's more common for descendants of rural people to go to the city than the other way around.

Thanks!!! 🙂