(HUMAN) GENETIC VARIATION AND ITS MAINTENANCE

Abstract

The 21 papers in this volume represent a selection from a symposium held in 1985 in Rome under the auspices of the International Union of Biological Sciences on genetic variation in (primarily tropical) human populations. Its conveners hoped to . . remind participants of what has been achieved and what may be expected.... (p. ix). The editors have generally succeeded in their dual purpose of overview and stimulation. The papers are grouped under three broad aspects of human genetic diversity: dimensions, origin and maintenance, and applications and problems of complex characters. They differ greatly in scope. Some authors are content simply to report phenomena without much context or interpretation. Others give a stimulating account of a particular problem, remarkable case study, or opportunity for new work, while still others give broad overviews of whole approaches or areas of study in human population genetics. There is often a bias toward description rather than explanation, which is understandable in view of the common difficulty in experimenting with or even closely observing humans. On the other hand, a few papers are exciting in their power of analysis. The first group of papers deals with the uncovering of human genetic variation. They will inform the uninitiated but not excite the practitioner. (No one will get a new insight into the bettering of his/her favorite procedures.) D. F. Roberts gives a history of the study of human genetic variants, and J. Wentzel a brief overview of the distribution of major-histocompatibilitycomplex variation. S. S. Papiha reviews improved electrophoresis techniques but does not discuss their pitfalls (e.g., precipitation of proteins at their isoelectric points in isoelectric focusing, limitations on resolution of 2-D gels, etc.). H. G. Schwarzacher reviews techniques for human cytogenetics. There is a fine quartet of papers (D. N. Cooper and J. Schmidtke, R. L. Cann, M. Stoneking et al., B. Bonn6-Tamir and L. L. CavalliSforza) which document the use of restriction fragment length polymorphism, especially in mitochondrial DNA, to study migration and genetic structure in human populations. These could easily be recommended to a beginning research student seeking an introduction to the procedures and to the literature in this burgeoning area of human genetic study. Migration and interbreeding of originally distinct human populations is the major theme of the group of papers concerning origin and maintenance. R. L. Kirk, in leading the section with a review of human genetics in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, suggests some new possibilities for study of variant hemo-