Feb 27, 2021 07:42 AM
Evolution: lab-grown ‘mini brains’ suggest one mutation might have rewired the human mind
https://theconversation.com/evolution-la...ind-155980
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission significantly after just one dose, new study finds
https://thehill.com/changing-america/wel...ansmission
INTRO: A new study out of the U.K. found a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can significantly reduce asymptomatic infections, suggesting the shot could cut the risk of transmission as well as protect people from becoming ill from the virus. Researchers from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and the University of Cambridge analyzed results from thousands of COVID-19 tests conducted weekly as part of screening of hospital staff who showed no signs of infection... (MORE - details)
Why cousin marriages can wreak genetic havoc on children (Genetic Literacy Project)
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/...-children/
EXCERPTS: . . . In more technical language, these are called consanguineous marriages – unions between individuals that are related to each other as either second cousins or closer. There are different degrees of consanguinity, where the first-degree is your parent or your child, a second-degree relationship includes siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, third-degree has aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, great-grandparents while the fourth-degree also includes first cousins.
These unions hold the potential to create significant genetic issues in nations such as Pakistan, where a recent study estimated that more than 60 percent of the population carries out such marriages. The situation has prompted lawmakers there to pass new legislation aimed at forcing related couples to seek genetic screenings to fight the rising incidence of a hereditary blood disorder and to raise awareness about the dangers of cousin marriages.
Under the Roman civil law, individuals were forbidden to marry anyone within the four degrees. Because of that, cousin marriages started interchangeably being used with inbreeding or incest and therefore became less common in the west. The same beliefs were not pushed in parts of South Asia and the Middle East, where Islam was the predominant religion and only restricted marriages to the third degree. Thereby cousin marriages not only became a common practice but in time also became a cultural norm that is now actively promoted and preferred in most of those regions.
From a genetics standpoint, the link between these cousin marriages and increased risk of genetic disorders in the offspring of such marriages has become strong. The reason for that is in the laws of probabilities. [...] According to various published studies, a variety of disorders have been linked to this breeding practice, including congenital heart disease, blood diseases such as hemophilia and thalassemia, deafness, cystic fibrosis, breast cancer and depression.
[...] The main reason behind the popularity of cousin marriage is two-fold. First, it provides financial security by assuring that property or monetary assets stay within a family. Second, it offers personal security for parents who want to see their sons or daughters married to trusted spouses, rather than strangers. This especially holds true in the rural areas of Pakistan where there is limited education and awareness regarding the harms of cousin marriages. Before people can understand that marrying one’s cousin can be harmful to their offspring, they need to first understand what genetics is, how diseases can get passed within the family and how this knowledge can empower their choices and decisions.
[...] These marriages aren’t the root cause of these various genetic disorders. But they are responsible for the increased risk of developing these disorders. And if those risks can be lowered, numerous cases of offspring’s born with deformities or cases of fetal mortality can also finally be managed... (MORE - details)
https://theconversation.com/evolution-la...ind-155980
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission significantly after just one dose, new study finds
https://thehill.com/changing-america/wel...ansmission
INTRO: A new study out of the U.K. found a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can significantly reduce asymptomatic infections, suggesting the shot could cut the risk of transmission as well as protect people from becoming ill from the virus. Researchers from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and the University of Cambridge analyzed results from thousands of COVID-19 tests conducted weekly as part of screening of hospital staff who showed no signs of infection... (MORE - details)
Why cousin marriages can wreak genetic havoc on children (Genetic Literacy Project)
https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2021/...-children/
EXCERPTS: . . . In more technical language, these are called consanguineous marriages – unions between individuals that are related to each other as either second cousins or closer. There are different degrees of consanguinity, where the first-degree is your parent or your child, a second-degree relationship includes siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, third-degree has aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, great-grandparents while the fourth-degree also includes first cousins.
These unions hold the potential to create significant genetic issues in nations such as Pakistan, where a recent study estimated that more than 60 percent of the population carries out such marriages. The situation has prompted lawmakers there to pass new legislation aimed at forcing related couples to seek genetic screenings to fight the rising incidence of a hereditary blood disorder and to raise awareness about the dangers of cousin marriages.
Under the Roman civil law, individuals were forbidden to marry anyone within the four degrees. Because of that, cousin marriages started interchangeably being used with inbreeding or incest and therefore became less common in the west. The same beliefs were not pushed in parts of South Asia and the Middle East, where Islam was the predominant religion and only restricted marriages to the third degree. Thereby cousin marriages not only became a common practice but in time also became a cultural norm that is now actively promoted and preferred in most of those regions.
From a genetics standpoint, the link between these cousin marriages and increased risk of genetic disorders in the offspring of such marriages has become strong. The reason for that is in the laws of probabilities. [...] According to various published studies, a variety of disorders have been linked to this breeding practice, including congenital heart disease, blood diseases such as hemophilia and thalassemia, deafness, cystic fibrosis, breast cancer and depression.
[...] The main reason behind the popularity of cousin marriage is two-fold. First, it provides financial security by assuring that property or monetary assets stay within a family. Second, it offers personal security for parents who want to see their sons or daughters married to trusted spouses, rather than strangers. This especially holds true in the rural areas of Pakistan where there is limited education and awareness regarding the harms of cousin marriages. Before people can understand that marrying one’s cousin can be harmful to their offspring, they need to first understand what genetics is, how diseases can get passed within the family and how this knowledge can empower their choices and decisions.
[...] These marriages aren’t the root cause of these various genetic disorders. But they are responsible for the increased risk of developing these disorders. And if those risks can be lowered, numerous cases of offspring’s born with deformities or cases of fetal mortality can also finally be managed... (MORE - details)