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Expert warns against inbreeding risk among Mongolians

Xinhua, July 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Mongolian geneticist has warned that his country should be aware of the risk of inbreeding among the population, local media reported Wednesday.

Enkhmaa Enkhee, a scientist with the Social Health Institute of Mongolia, said that the effects of inbreeding are being seen in the country as many children are born with health issues such as cleft lips and palate defects, cardiac disease and many other birth defects.

Enkhmaa said that his team has estimated the coefficiency of inbreeding among the Mongolian population, and then determined that 97.24 percent of this coefficient were direct inbreeding, and the remaining 2.76 percent were remote inbreeding.

The researcher blamed the division of the Mongolian population into small administrative units that restrict the free movement of people. There are 21 rural provinces, 370 rural settlements and 1,500 rural counties in Mongolia.

It is common for Mongolians in rural areas to marry within their community. Mongolia only has a population of three million and half of the population is concentrated in Ulan Bator, the capital city. Endi