The Economist (US), March 8th, 2003
Try doing this if you're inbred
Why excessive inbreeding is bad for life
AS ROYAL families and pedigree dog-owners can find to their cost, too much inbreeding may result in individuals who are damaged from birth. The congenital costs of consanguinity have long been recognised, as has their cause: the increased risk that the offspring of an incestuous mating will get two copies of the same damaged gene, one from each parent. The effect of one damaged copy can usually be overcome if a working copy exists as well. If both fail, there is no back-up.
What has not been much investigated is whet...
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