The genetic argument is weak. Religious communities that discourage mixed marriages slow down the transmission of genes, resulting in those communities having a different genetic profile. For example, Safardic Jews are more likely to carry the gene for sickle-cell anemia. While on the surface this might argue for this community being at an evolutionary disadvantage, this condition also confers enhanced immunity to malaria, which is common in the tropics inhabited originally by these people. --[[User:Afortiori|Afortiori]] 11:28, 6 October 2009 (EDT) | The genetic argument is weak. Religious communities that discourage mixed marriages slow down the transmission of genes, resulting in those communities having a different genetic profile. For example, Safardic Jews are more likely to carry the gene for sickle-cell anemia. While on the surface this might argue for this community being at an evolutionary disadvantage, this condition also confers enhanced immunity to malaria, which is common in the tropics inhabited originally by these people. --[[User:Afortiori|Afortiori]] 11:28, 6 October 2009 (EDT) |