The fitness of human translocation carriers

Abstract

A simple method to estimate the mean fitness of human translocation carriers is described. The method is based on information about the inheritance pattern of the translocations. This data can be obtained from the surveys of the chromosome constitutions of newborn babies. The following fitness estimates are obtained: D/D translocation carriers, 0.94; D/G translocation carriers, 0.83; and reciprocal translocation carriers, 0.67. The estimates are rather uncertain due to the scarcity of information, but they are consistent with the expected results. More accurate estimates will be obtained when more data on translocation carriers are available and the cytological classification of the different translocations becomes more exact.