A description is made of a large Brazilian family of white ancestry in which some individuals presented polydactyly, other spherocytosis, and some both anomalies together. The information obtained involves five generations totaling 117 related members. Seventy eight of them were examined by the authors through clinical and laboratory methods. Both anomalies were found to be inherited by means of autosomic dominant genes; their joint occurrence seems to be casual. No genetic linkage was apparent between the genes which conditioned spherocytosis and those responsible for the ABO, MN and Rh blood group systems.

Within the “Wrocław Longitudinal Twin Study” in a part of the material the liking level of singletons (SIN) to identical twins (TMZ) and of TMZ to SIN was analysed cross-sectionally, in the period of 11th to 18th year of life. In each of the 76 classes of elementary and high schools in Wrocław (Poland), including the investigated in 1976-7 TMZ (64 pairs), were evaluated the relations between school-mates, using the Korczak's five-degree scale of liking. The declared by TMZ and SIN liking decreased with age between pupils of the same sex, and increased between pupils of opposite sex, however, in TMZ with some delay. The liking declared by TMZ of both sexes to SIN was on average lower than that declared by SIN to TMZ. The degree of liking declared by SIN to TMZ of the same sex was average higher than in relation of SIN to SIN particularly among girls. Thus, there occurred the so-called “prima donna effect”. The liking declared to pupils of opposite sex in relation of SIN to TMZ was on average lower than the analogous one in relation of SIN to SIN and in relation TMZ to SIN even worse. The higher contrast in treating pupils of the same and opposite sex in TMZ than in SIN indicates a lower social maturity in TMZ. A diverse influence of socio-economic conditions on the declared toward then liking by boys and girls was found. The low number of separated twins did not allow to make a generalisation on specificity of their position in class. The sending of TMZ to different classes appeared to be in Wrocław elementary schools sporadic (1 repeater), and in high schools observed in 38%, from that 28% of twins went to equivalent classes, usually in different school, and in 10% of pairs one of the twins repeated the class.

The aims of this study were: 1) to study the characteristics of birth and neonatal mortality (NM) rates of twins as compared to singletons in recent years in Italy; 2) to evaluate NM rate differences among twins and singletons by birthweight: 3) to calculate the cause-specific NM rates among singletons and twins. Data concerning all live-born infants were obtained from the birth and death records of the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) for the years 1981, 1985, 1989 and 1990 and were analyzed by the Statistics Office of the Italian National Institute of Health. Between 1981 and 1990 the incidence of twins increased from 18.3 to 19.1 per thousand livebirths. This increase was mainly related to twins resulting from multiple pregnancies, thus, the proportion of twins weighing < 1500g also increased from 67 to 77 per thousand. Twins accounted for 10% of overall neonatal mortality in 1981 and 14% in 1990. Between 1981 and 1990 in the Centre-South of Italy the crude NM rates showed a greater decrease among singletons than among twins, while in the North the decrement involved both singletons and twins. The birthweight-specific NM rate showed a steady improvement in survival for twins rather than for singletons in the 1500-2499g weight range. Taking each cause of death in 1989-90, NM rates were considerably higher for twins compared to singletons, Twin mortality risks due to newborn respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and asphyxia were respectively 11 and 8 times that of singletons. The comparison between twin NM rates in the three geografical areas and in relation to the cause of death indicated a greater incidence of RDS and asphyxia in the Centre-South than in the North.

This study offers indications on the planning of perinatal care in order to improve twin survival in the Centre and South of Italy, particularly with regard to the prevention and care of asphyxia-RDS.

The Authors report a 54-year-old male MZ twin pair with two single-born relatives suffering from glaucoma.

The twins are concordant as to glaucoma, but onset of the disease in the first-born occurred 20 years later than in the second-born. This high chronological difference is ascribed to the hardships the latter twin had suffered for three years in Africa.

The meaning of anticipation is discussed in the light of modern views on the time dimensions of the unit of inheritance (chronon).

It is immediately apparent, that the difficulties encountered in studies of the genetics of the mind are formidable, for several reasons. In the first place, the traits concerned are difficult or impossible to classify or to measure with accuracy. In the second place, they may be unstable towards environmental influence; and they vary with age, or exhibit periodic changes.

It is therefore not surprising that our understanding of genetic mechanisms is limited in those conditions where analysis has been carried out merely on the basis of the mental traits.

The situation is strikingly different in the conditions where an association has been found between a mental trait and some clearly recognisable physical or biochemical trait. As we all know, in several such cases an exact genetic analysis in Mendelian terms has been found possible, for instance in the amaurotic idiocies and phenylketonuria.

The present study compared two different types of English-language teaching approaches, the grammatical approach (GA) and the communicative approach (CA), by the cotwin control method. This study has two purposes: to study the effects of teaching approaches and to estimate genetic influences upon learning aptitudes. Seven pairs of identical twins (MZ) and 4 pairs of fraternal twins (DZ) participated in the experiment along with 68 other nontwin fifth graders. Each cotwin was assigned to the GA and CA respectively and received 20 hours of lessons over a 10-day period. The behavioral similarities between MZ cotwins were statistically and descriptively depicted. No major effect of either teaching approach was noted, but the genetic influence upon individual differences of learning achievement was obvious. Furthermore, an interesting interaction between the teaching approaches and intelligence was found, that is, that the GA capitalises on and CA compensates for intelligence. This interactional pattern could be interpreted as an example of genotype-environment interaction. The relationship between genetic factors and learning aptitudes is discussed.

Mean MZ and DZ twinning rates in seven big Greek cities were 3.2 and 4.75 per 1,000 maternities, respectively, during the 1980-1985 period. The seasonal variations in twinning frequencies are not significant. The total twinning rate in Greece shows a decreasing trend from 1956 to 1985.

In order to investigate changes in twinning rate during World War II and postwar years, when the people in Tokyo suffered from malnutrition, about 80,000 delivery records during 1924-86 at one hospital in downtown Tokyo were examined. The twinning rate decreased from 1.47% in the 1920s to 0.81% in the 1980s. During the 1940s, the rate was 1.03% for 1940-42 and 0.94% for 1948-49, but it dropped down to 0.70% for 1943-47. In 1945, when Tokyo was heavily bombed repeatedly to be burnt out, and the people suffered from severe malnutrition, only one case of twinning was found among 305 maternities at this hospital (0.33%). While the mean birth weight of term singleton babies was 2953 g in 1940-41, it decreased to 2918 g in 1943-47, especially to 2856 g in 1945. This change in birth weight evidenced that the nutritional conditions in Tokyo became worse in 1943-47. This report suggests that the twinning rate decreased also during this period in Tokyo when the people suffered from malnutrition.

This note describes the dermatoglyphic disturbances verified in two patients with a very complex and highly mutilating syndrome. The parents of the affected individuals present, however, normal dermatoglyphics.

Genetics in the Soviet Union has undergone a profound and long crisis, involving the realm of Biological Sciences and Science and Culture as a whole.

This was not merely due to the emergence of neo-Lamarckian Michurinism, claiming the inheritance of acquired characters to be possible and necessary, and the genotype to be plastic and shakable, especially under particular environmental and physiological conditions: this could have been the object of scientific discussions, probably of a controversy, too, just as one century ago, but would have hardly involved matters of principle and of method in Scientific Research, nor would the controversy have degenerated, absurdly giving rise to a “ Western ” and a “ Soviet Science ”.

Two closely connected factors, equally important and equally witnessing a reject of the principles underlying the scientific method, may be considered as the actual source of this partition of Science, namely:

i) The assumption of a primacy of Ideology, thus making Science be submitted to it, and scientific theories be held right or wrong, according to their fitting or not ideological ones;

ii) Violent political pressures and administrative coercion on scientific thought, and on scientists themselves.

Along with such matters of principle, matters of method in research planning and the formulation of results made it impossible to reach a plain evaluation of Lysenko's theories and results.

Now that a normal athmosphere appears to have been re-established for the development of genetic research in the Soviet Union, rejecting, or ignoring the whole of Lysenko's work, could prove just as wrong as Lysenko's reject of Classic Genetics.

This review deals with CNS troubles and anomalies (excluding mental defects and oligophrenia, as well as primary muscular degenerations), that account for approximately 25 percent of all cases of genetic counseling in our material.

From a genetic-counseling perspective, CNS affections may be easily classed as follows: (1) congenital malformations; (2) monofactorial Mendelian affections; (3) diseases with a possibly hereditary disposition (e.g., arthrogryposis); (4) infant cerebral palsies; and (5) epilepsies.

In our own material, CNS congenital malformations account for approximately 60 percent of all cases of neurologic genetic counseling, whereas Mendelian affections account for only 20 percent and epilepsies for 15 percent. They mainly include cases of hydrocephaly, anencephaly, spina bifida, and microcephaly, for which the recurrence risk is mostly empirical. Emphasis is laid on the present possibilities of prenatal detection of some of these malformations.

Report of 44 cases of rheumatic heart disease with genetics observations of transmittance of rheumatic fever and cardiovascular diseases and discussion about the relation betwen the two diseases.

Già da tempo il sangue dei gemelli è stato studiato dal punto di vista biometrico ed in particolare dal punto di vista eritrocitometrico (Glatzel 1931, Ostertag 1935).

Siamo tornati sull'argomento délla comparazione delle misure eritrocitometriche di coppie di gemelli perché convinti della grande importanza teorica e pratica di questo studio, tanto dal punto di vista strettamente genetico, quanto dal punto di vista medico, dati i ben noti vantaggi del metodo comparativo gemellare.

Le misurazioni vennero eseguite con un microscopio universale Galileo, direttamente sull'immagine reale proiettata su di uno schermo di vetro smerigliato 16 × 18. L'obbiettivo impiegato fu un 99 × e il tiraggio dello specchio proiettore venne aggiustato fino ad ottenere i 2000 ingrandimenti esatti, tarati con un vetrino micrometrico. I preparati furono dei comuni strisci a strato rigorosamente monoglobulare, colorati con May-Grunwald-Giemsa. La colorazione venne spinta un poco oltre i tempi comunemente usati, per ottenere una maggiore nitidezza di contorni nella proiezione dei globuli rossi.

Le misurazioni vennero direttamente eseguite sulla lastra di vetro smerigliato, mediante un regolo millimetrato trasparente.

Con detta tecnica, risultando un micron delle dimensioni di 2 millimetri, riescì esatta la misurazione di mezzo micron e discretamente approssimata quella del quarto di micron.

The Xg blood group system is unique in that it is the only blood group antigen which is controlled by a gene residing on the X chromosome. There are six possible mating types in X-linked dominant inheritance, such as the Xg system represents. One of these types is of particular interest in this presentation, even though it amounts to only 6% of possible matings, assuming the usual western Caucasian gene frequency of the Xg system. In this mating type, an Xg(a+) father, whose X chromosome is designated as +, mates with an homozygous Xg(a—) mother (Fig. 1). The offspring of such a mating, if female, will be incompatible with their mother, since they have received their father's Xg(a+) X chromosome. Male offspring are of course compatible, since they receive their mother's Xg(a—) X chromosome and their father's Y chromosome. It follows that any biologically significant materno-fetal incompatibility with respect to the Xg system might lead to preferential loss of daughter conceptions.

The present paper deals with data collected during the course of a study of twin pairs who were participating in an ophthalmologic investigation. The twins were classified as MZ or DZ on the basis of their blood types (ABO, MNS Rh, Kell, Duffy, etc.), physical likenesses, and dermatoglyphic findings. The results expected of Xga testing, assuming random mating and no selection, were calculated by Li's method (1955), using the gene frequency of 0.65 for the Xga allele.

The Author reports two MZ twin pairs, one of 11 years old females and one of 18 years old males, only one twin in each pair being affected by severe cardiac failure. In both cases the cranial radiograph of the hyposystolic twin, compared with that of the co-twin, revealed the existence of cereblar stasis.

The Author also reports on two female MZ pairs of developmental age, each with one cardiopathic twin. In both cases the affected twin revealed a retarded body development and, in one pair, also retarded puberty.

The Author stresses how the twin study method is helpful in clinical as well as genetical research, thus reasserting its validity.

Vinblastine (VLB) and vincristine (VCR) are two alkaloids (extracted from the plant Catahranthus roseus) which possess a definite antitumor activity. The antitumor activity. The antimitotic action of these two alkaloids was studied both on normal bone marrow and leukemic cells. Comparative studies showed that they are, like colchicine, spindle poisons. They, however, differ from colchicine and its derivatives in some of their biological activities.

The problem of the relationship between antitumor and antimitotic activity of VLB and VCR is discussed.

A healthy 23-year-old woman with amenorrhea was examined at the Mendel Institute. She had been amenorrheic for 4 years, and had not responded to hormone treatment. We therefore decided to study her family tree and karyotype. We describe the results of our study here: the patient was found to have gonadal dysgenesis, caused by translocation of a fragment of the X to a 12 chromosome, resulting from a break at q21, at the end of the q-arm.