Segregation analysis of thalassemia in Ferrara

Segregation analysis of 996 families in which the gene for beta-thalassemia was segregating showed no distortion of expected Mendelian ratios. No appreciable frequency of sporadic cases was detected. It was suggested that segregation distortion is not a mechanism which contributes to the maintenance of polymorphism in the beta-thalassemia system in the population of the Ferrara area.