Hemoglobins, Haptoglobins, and Transferrins in Man

Abstract

lapped. The distribution of genes within a population, and the differences in the frequency of their alleles which characterize one population and distinguish it from another, need not be considered trivial if selection plays a part in determining them. A search for additional loci as aids in classification may be sterile and boring; but a quest for the sources of human variation and the analysis of the interactions of genetic and ecological factors stimulates continuing interest. Recently accumulated evidence indicates that some, and perhaps most, aspects of polymorphism in man are adaptive and that cultural factors are commonly involved in the process of adaptation. By their joint efforts cultural and physical anthropologists are in a position to contribute to a deeper understanding of those factors which have made us what we are today. Such collaboration is dependent upon the degree of communication established between scholars in these two facets of anthropology. The student of human biology needs to hear frequently about recent advances in the analysis of culture, and especially of cultural practices which affect the genetic structure or phenotypic appearance of different populations. In return, new developments in human biology should be brought to the attention of anthropologists in general. Significant among such advances is the understanding of the structure, function, and inheritance of various protein fractions of the blood. A number of these are inherited in simple Mendelian manner and thus lend themselves readily to genetic analysis. As they occur in varying frequencies among different human populations, they can, like the blood types, suggest the degree of ancestral relationships between them. Like the blood types, too, their variety demonstrates the widespread extent and probable utility of balanced polymorphism in the human species. In 1949 when Neel established the genetic mechanism for sickle cell trait and sickle cell anemia and Pauling et al. (1949) demonstrated the electrophoretic difference between normal and sickle cell hemoglobin, doors were opened to unique research opportunities in genetics, biophysics, biochemistry, medicine, and anthropology. The past dozen years have witnessed vast strides in the understanding of the structure of the hemoglobin molecule, the strategy of the gene in producing its end product in the individual, and the ebb and flow of genes in the course of human history.