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I know 1 in 50 people carry the gene for this disease, but only 1 in 14000 people are born with it. Why is it then that the disease is described as “relatively common” given these frequencies?

2006-10-03 04:05:17 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Medicine

3 answers

Population-genetically speaking, any gene which is present at greater than 1% (1 in 100) is considered to be relatively common. The fact that it is recessive, and that there seems to be some selection against it (1 in 50 in heterozygotes should give 1 in 2500 in homozygotes. the fact that it only appears 1 in 14,000 means that the others may not make it to birth) makes the homozygote data skewed.

2006-10-03 05:04:47 · answer #1 · answered by Wally M 4 · 0 0

1 in 14000 means 430,000 people are afflicted, probably not common but also not rare

2006-10-03 09:29:36 · answer #2 · answered by jim60 2 · 0 0

one in fourteen thousand? Thats a pretty "common percentage" verses one in six billion....

2006-10-03 04:11:31 · answer #3 · answered by educated guess 5 · 0 0

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