ANTH 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Albinism, Melanin, Genetic Drift
13 Jun 2016
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Albinism - homozygous recessive alleles on one or more genes. Prone to vision problems, sensitive to bright lights, lack of melanin. 1 in 20,000 people with both recessive alleles necessary to exhibit these traits. Hopi people - they live in a reservation. Very few, about 6500 individuals, very few marriages. Incidence of albinism of the hopi people is 1 in 200. In the 1960s, biologists went to hopi reserve to find out why the incidence was so high. Zuni people is another people in a reservation more south, but the population is larger. The % albinism was not as great as hopi. Before, culturally inherited division of labour means that the men go out to farm. They are excused from tasks involving going out side. They are sheltered, they stay in, doing weaving or other crafts. Climate - it"s a hot bright day. It"s a homozygous recessive trait; maybe it"s an example of positively assortative mating.
