Aug 6, 2018 04:58 PM
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/...-benefits/
EXCERPT: . . . Might inbreeding also confer some evolutionary benefit in humans? Some scientists think that exposure of detrimental traits to selection via inbreeding could have benefited humans in the past similar to the way that it benefits wasps. But there could also be advantages of amplifying positive family traits.
Having children with your eighth, sixth, or even a fifth cousin, is not inbreeding, whereas first-cousin parenting is inbreeding to such a degree that there are laws dealing with it. But fascinating research shows that the highest human fertility rates exist among couples who are 3rd cousins. Fertility is a good way to assess evolutionary fitness, because lethal traits due to recessive genes frequently manifest as spontaneous abortions, typically occurring so early in gestation that they’re rarely even noticed as a pregnancy.
And so, it’s been suggested that the 3rd cousin level of inbreeding might represent a kind of genetic sweet spot, where the advantages of amplifying positive family traits and the disadvantages of amplifying negative family traits are optimally balanced....
MORE: https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/...-benefits/
EXCERPT: . . . Might inbreeding also confer some evolutionary benefit in humans? Some scientists think that exposure of detrimental traits to selection via inbreeding could have benefited humans in the past similar to the way that it benefits wasps. But there could also be advantages of amplifying positive family traits.
Having children with your eighth, sixth, or even a fifth cousin, is not inbreeding, whereas first-cousin parenting is inbreeding to such a degree that there are laws dealing with it. But fascinating research shows that the highest human fertility rates exist among couples who are 3rd cousins. Fertility is a good way to assess evolutionary fitness, because lethal traits due to recessive genes frequently manifest as spontaneous abortions, typically occurring so early in gestation that they’re rarely even noticed as a pregnancy.
And so, it’s been suggested that the 3rd cousin level of inbreeding might represent a kind of genetic sweet spot, where the advantages of amplifying positive family traits and the disadvantages of amplifying negative family traits are optimally balanced....
MORE: https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/...-benefits/