It has been known for a long time that offspring of closely related individuals tend to be less healthy than those of unrelated individuals. Authors of a new paper note that even Charles Darwin speculated as to whether or not marrying his own first cousin (the couple had the same grandfather in pottery magnate Josiah Wedgewood) had a bearing on the mortality of some of his own children. The opposite idea has also been established, that offspring of distantly related individuals tend to fair better on many measures via a phenomenon known as hybrid vigour.
A new study in the journal Nature has tried to put some hard numbers on the concept. They looked at a total of 16 traits, ten covering various cardio-metabolic health factors along with height, lung function, cognitive ability and educational attainment. Curiously, none of the health measures saw an effect but each of the 4 others saw a positive correlation. Children from distantly related parents were taller, had larger lungs, stayed in school longer and scored better on cognitive tests. It's certainly possible that genetics is directly influencing these measures but let's keep in mind, though, that correlation is not the same as causation.
The strongest effect was seen between people of different continental groups so if you want tall, bright children you might want to find yourself a partner from a long, long way away.
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