Is the population of North Sentinel Island immune to the genetic effects of inbreeding?

466 views

Not trying to be funny, either, but how could an isolated population, of a severely remote/xenophobic island, not just disappear due to the side effects of inbreeding? Do secluded populations eventually become immune to the mutations?

In: 176

14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Yes and no. They aren’t inbred enough to create severe deformities, but they likely are more prone to several genetic diseases.

See in biology there is a concept known as “minimum viable population” or MVP for short. Essentially there are two numbers. The smaller number is the minimum number of individuals required to prevent immediately harmful inbreeding like you might have heard of in the royal families of Europe where severe physical deformities and other birth defects were reasonably common. However there is a second number in MVP where it is the minimum population required to prevent more invisible harmful genetic conditions or the loss of otherwise beneficial genes.

The old rule of thumb was called 50/500 for the two number of the minimum viable population. However, more modern complex measures take into account things like gestation, environment, and a couple dozen other factors. Allowing for much smaller or larger minimum viable populations.

You are viewing 1 out of 14 answers, click here to view all answers.