title: Consanguineous marriages, pearls and perils: Geneva International Consanguinity Workshop Report.
abstract: Approximately 1.1 billion people currently live in countries where consanguineous marriages are customary, and among them one in every three marriages is between cousins. Opinions diverge between those warning of the possible health risks to offspring and others who highlight the social benefits of consanguineous marriages. A consanguinity study group of international experts and counselors met at the Geneva International Consanguinity Workshop from May 3, 2010, to May 7, 2010, to discuss the known and presumptive risks and benefits of close kin marriages and to identify important future areas for research on consanguinity. The group highlighted the importance of evidence-based counseling recommendations for consanguineous marriages and of undertaking both genomic and social research in defining the various influences and outcomes of consanguinity. Technological advances in rapid high-throughput genome sequencing and for the identification of copy number variants by comparative genomic hybridization offer a significant opportunity to identify genotype-phenotype correlations focusing on autozygosity, the hallmark of consanguinity. The ongoing strong preferential culture of close kin marriages in many societies, and among migrant communities in Western countries, merits an equivalently detailed assessment of the social and genetic benefits of consanguinity in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, and University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. hananhamamy@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hanan
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authors.lastname: Hamamy
authors.forename: Stylianos E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Antonarakis
authors.forename: Luigi Luca
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authors.lastname: Cavalli-Sforza
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authors.lastname: Temtamy
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authors.forename: Cornelia
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authors.forename: Eric
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authors.lastname: Engel
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authors.lastname: Zlotogora
authors.forename: Emmanouil
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authors.lastname: Dermitzakis
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authors.lastname: Bottani
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authors.lastname: Dahoun
authors.forename: Michael A
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authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Steve
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authors.lastname: Arsenault
authors.forename: Mona S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Aglan
authors.forename: Mubasshir
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authors.lastname: Ajaz
authors.forename: Ayad
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authors.lastname: Alkalamchi
authors.forename: Dhekra
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authors.lastname: Alnaqeb
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authors.lastname: Alwasiyah
authors.forename: Nawfal
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authors.lastname: Anwer
authors.forename: Rawan
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authors.lastname: Awwad
authors.forename: Melissa
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authors.lastname: Bonnefin
authors.forename: Peter
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authors.lastname: Corry
authors.forename: Lorraine
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authors.lastname: Gwanmesia
authors.forename: Gulshan A
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authors.lastname: Karbani
authors.forename: Maryam
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authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.forename: Tommaso
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authors.lastname: Pippucci
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
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authors.lastname: Ranza-Boscardin
authors.forename: Bruno
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authors.lastname: Reversade
authors.forename: Saghira M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sharif
authors.forename: Marieke E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Teeuw
authors.forename: Alan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Bittles
mesh_terms: D003241:Consanguinity; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations; D004194:Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D036281:Genetic Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable