Brushing off the cobwebs from this blog tonight with an article on a fairly morbid topic: the potential legacy of Dr. Joesph Mengele on the populations of South America. For years there has been rampant speculation regarding the seemingly high numbers of twins within the municipality of Cândido Godói in South Brazil. Seeing as twinning was an obsession for Mengele, the question reigned as to whether or not the high instance of twins is the result of some unknown experimentation upon the population. However, as this article by Tagliani-Ribeiro et al. demonstrates that no spike in twinning occurred in association with Mengele's presence in the area. In addition, isonymy studies demonstrate that the twining often occurred among women with a significantly higher inbreeding coefficient,pointing to a founder effect as the cause for the higher incidents of twinning in Cândido Godói.
Tagliani-Ribeiro A, Oliveira M, Sassi AK, Rodrigues MR, Zagonel-Oliveira M, et al. (2011) Twin Town in South Brazil: A Nazi's Experiment or a Genetic Founder Effect? PLoS ONE 6(6): e20328.
Showing posts with label Irish Isonymy Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irish Isonymy Project. Show all posts
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Irish Isonymy Project
For an example of how to conduct a multidimensional project in isonymy, have a look at the Irish Isonymy Project of Don MacRaild and Malcolm Smith. The main focus of the project is the use of random isonymy to track 19th century Irish migration into Britain. One particularly interesting sub project is their exploration of the use of first names as a research tool. Naturally, first names don't track genetic trends, but they can be used to measure cultural trends (such as the spread of non-Irish first names among the population of Ireland).
It is this last aspect of the Irish Isonymy Project which leads into a particular line of questions I've had for isonymy research in general. Ever since its inception, surnames have been vetted as a neutral marker for population studies. But are there situations in which selective pressure should be taken into account? I will be exploring this topic in posts to come.
It is this last aspect of the Irish Isonymy Project which leads into a particular line of questions I've had for isonymy research in general. Ever since its inception, surnames have been vetted as a neutral marker for population studies. But are there situations in which selective pressure should be taken into account? I will be exploring this topic in posts to come.
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