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  • Letters to the Editor
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Selection for deafness?

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 1332–1333 (2002)Cite this article

To the editor

From an evolutionary perspective, the existence of many monogenic diseases is not intelligible1. There is ongoing discussion as to what extent such disorders may be phenotypically balanced. Clear evidence exists indicating that certain red blood cell disorders are selected for by malaria; however, for other monogenic diseases, counterbalancing mechanisms are purely hypothetical2. Here we provide preliminary data suggesting that evolutionary balancing of monogenic disorders may be more general than presently thought.

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Figure 1: Skin morphology and sweat production in GJB2-R143W affected families.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin, Hamburg, Germany

    Christian G. Meyer, Christian Timmann & Rolf D. Horstmann

  2. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Geoffrey K. Amedofu

  3. Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Dermatologie und Venerologie, Hamburg, Germany

    Johanna M. Brandner

  4. Altonaer Kinderkrankenhaus, Hamburg, Germany

    Dieter Pohland

Authors
  1. Christian G. Meyer
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  2. Geoffrey K. Amedofu
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  3. Johanna M. Brandner
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  4. Dieter Pohland
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  5. Christian Timmann
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  6. Rolf D. Horstmann
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Correspondence to Christian G. Meyer.

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Meyer, C., Amedofu, G., Brandner, J. et al. Selection for deafness?. Nat Med 8, 1332–1333 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1202-1332

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