Inbreeding seen to bring down Spain's Habsburgs
Rare inherited genetic disorders worsened by repeated inbreeding may have brought down the powerful Spanish Habsburg dynasty, Spanish researchers said Tuesday.
Checks of genealogical charts and analysis of King Charles II's reported health problems suggest he may have had two rare conditions called combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis, the researchers speculated in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.
While the occasional marriage of close relative such as first cousins is harmless, repeated intermarriages can make genetic flaws more common, Gonzalo Alvarez and colleagues at the University of Santiago de Compostela reported.
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Checks of genealogical charts and analysis of King Charles II's reported health problems suggest he may have had two rare conditions called combined pituitary hormone deficiency and distal renal tubular acidosis, the researchers speculated in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE.
While the occasional marriage of close relative such as first cousins is harmless, repeated intermarriages can make genetic flaws more common, Gonzalo Alvarez and colleagues at the University of Santiago de Compostela reported.