Genetic polymorphism and American Indian health.

Abstract

Solid archaeologic evidence shows that North and South America werecompletely occupied by about 10,000 years ago, and new findings suggest thatboth continents were inhabited much earlier. At European contact in the late15th century, American Indian populations were diverse in their cultural andecologic adaptations and in their languages. The conditions accompanying thepeopling of the New World and the subsequent cultural and linguisticdiversification also favored genetic diversification. To the extent that theAmerican Indian populations have remained intact, the patterns of moderngenetic polymorphisms provide clues about the roles of genetic, environmental,and sociocultural factors in disease causation and the mechanisms by whichthese diverse causes interact. Even with the distortions of the pre-Columbiangenetic pool associated with disease, warfare, and dislocation after Europeancontact, it is likely that studies of genetic polymorphisms will yieldimportant health benefits. The study of genetic markers is clearly not a new phenomenon—datahave been accumulating in various ways for decades—but the exquisiteprecision of current molecular analysis has introduced a new paradigm. ManyIndian people are concerned that such research has unknown consequences, someof which may be adverse. Indian people themselves should judge the ultimateusefulness of such studies.