Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
The analysis of quantitative inheritance is complicated by age dependent changes. It is possible to describe them by two separate 5-degree polynomials for boys and girls of one family. Supposing a parallel shifting of these pairs of curves for different families, it is possible to calculate the mean course of such a family specific pair even if only a few children were examined at a few termins. By use of these fitted functions it is possible to estimate the value of the quantitative variable for the examined children at a constant age and to eliminate the influence of sex. Similarly, it is possible to eliminate age-caused differences of the parents. Using the age-corrected values of children, mothers and fathers, it is possible to investigate the relations between the values of parents {not midparents !) and children by means of a two-dimensional polynomial approximation. The resulting complicated formulas can be visualized by plotting lines of equal character values of the children in a diagram with the character values of the fathers on the ordinate and those of the mothers on the abscissa. Effects of dominance and of epistasis can be demonstrated by this method. Some results using data of enzyme activities as an example are discussed.
Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bad Godesberg, im Rahmen der beiden Forschungsvorhaben «Biometrische Wachstumsforschung» und « Biochemische Grundlagen der Populationsgenetik des Menschen».