Understanding recessive disease risk in multi-ethnic populations with different degrees of consanguinity.

Abstract

Population medical genetics aims at translating clinically relevant findings from recent studies of large cohorts into healthcare for individuals. Genetic counseling concerning reproductive risks and options is still mainly based on family history, and consanguinity is viewed to increase the risk for recessive diseases regardless of the demographics. However, in an increasingly multi-ethnic society with diverse approaches to partner selection, healthcare professionals should also sharpen their intuition for the influence of different mating schemes in non-equilibrium dynamics. We, therefore, revisited the so-called out-of-Africa model and studied in forward simulations with discrete and not overlapping generations the effect of inbreeding on the average number of recessive lethals in the genome. We were able to reproduce in both frameworks the drop in the incidence of recessive disorders, which is a transient phenomenon during and after the growth phase of a population, and therefore showed their equivalence. With the simulation frameworks, we also provide the means to study and visualize the effect of different kin sizes and mating schemes on these parameters for educational purposes.