- 9 . at later stages, depending on the nature of the mutation, and involve what is called hardship in the population, exampled by fetal or infant . mortality, ov prereproductive mortality. | So far as we know, induced mutations are similar in character to those occurring spontancously. They, too, are carried in the population “as an increment to the genetic load, and, as in the case of spontaneous mutations, sre subject to elimination from the population at au rate depending on their harmfullness. Thus, recessive mutations, with relatively slight effects, may be carried for many generations, while dominant lethals and certain types of chromosomal aberrations such as X-chromosome losses are expected to persist only one or no more than a few generations. The rate with which recessive gene mutations are removed from the population is also dependent upon the mating pattern. For example, in a poputation where inbreeding is relatively high, such as in the case of the Eskimo, the relative frequency of homozygous recessive individuals in early generations’ is high but by the same token, so is the rate of removal of the deleterious recessive gene from the population. In this sense then, "genetic defects are slow to dilute" in Eskimo populations, but "dilution" should not necessarily be construed as an advantage to the population since a deleterious recessive gene is expected to persist for a greater number of generations in an outbred than in an inbred population. Question LIF The Eskimos have a short life expectancy anyway. their health may be weak to begin with? Does that suggest that Question 11G Extensive study of birth defects, fetal mortality, stillborn infants, mental