title: Tay-Sachs disease: high gene frequency in a non-Jewish population.
abstract: A non-Amish "Pennsylvania Dutch" semi-isolate was found to have a high frequency of Tay-Sachs gene. This high frequency could be ascribed to founder effect and may represent, in microcosm, how this mechanism could have produced the high gene frequency among Ashkenazi Jews.
mesh_terms: D003241:Consanguinity; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005796:Genes; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D013661:Tay-Sachs Disease / Q000235:genetics*