Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
In order to test if arm folding is a hereditary trait, 319 couples of parents and their 897 children have been examined. The distribution of the two phenotypes, D and G, is different from a O.5-0.5 distribution. No influence of sex nor age is observed. The matings are random and the mean number of children per family is the same for each type of mating.
The analysis of family data does not prove the hypothesis of a hereditary transmission of the trait, and important discrepancies are noted between observed values and those expected for genetic mechanisms with two alleles, D and G, of an autosomic or sex-linked gene.