Are Lethal Alleles Too Abundant in Humans?

Publication date: Available online 28 December 2017 Source:Trends in Genetics Author(s): Mallory A. Ballinger, Mohamed A.F. Noor Across species, many individuals carry one or more recessive lethal alleles, posing an evolutionary conundrum for their persistence. Using a population genomic approach, Amorim et al. studied the abundance of lethal disease-causing mutations in humans and found that, while appearing more common than expected, most may nonetheless persist at frequencies predicted by mutation–selection balance.

Source: Trends in Genetics - December 29, 2017 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research