Increased prevalence of Mediterranean and Muslim populations in mutation-related research literature.
This paper assesses the prevalence of 569 population groups in mutation-related research literature by means of prevalence scores, calculated on the basis of a systematic search of the PubMed database. The main finding is that Mediterranean and Muslim populations are mentioned more often than other groups. The observed overrepresentation is attributed to the pervasiveness of hemoglobin disorders in these populations, the early decoding of hemoglobin and the relative commonness of consanguineous marriage in some of these populations. The paper points at potential benefits as well as predicaments that the intensive targeting of these populations for mutation research may entail.
Birenbaum-Carmeli
Daphna
D
Department of Sociology, University of Haifa, Israel. daphna@research.haifa.ac.il
D036281:Genetic Research; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam; D019083:Mediterranean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D009154:Mutation