Marrying Your Cousin: Is It Actually As Bad As We Thought?
Marrying your cousin has long been considered taboo, but new research says that procreating with your cousins may not be as risky as previously thought. Popular Science's Eleanor Cummins breaks down the findings.
Eleanor Cummins, Editorial Assistant at Popular Science, breaks down the findings. Columbia University data scientist Yaniv Erlich studied a family tree of 13 million people to see how marrying various relatives impacts the risk of genetic birth defects. He found that one set of first cousins having children doesn't necessarily pose a high risk of having children with birth defects, but if the trend continues beyond one generation, then the risk increases exponentially.
Nearly a day after being downgraded from a tropical storm, Ophelia still threatened parts of the Northeast on Sunday with coastal flooding, life-threatening waves and heavy rain from Washington to New York City, the National Hurricane Center said.
Surgeons have transplanted a pig’s heart into a dying man in a bid to prolong his life – only the second patient to ever undergo such an experimental feat. Two days later, the man was cracking jokes and able to sit in a chair, Maryland doctors said Friday.
Tropical Storm Ophelia formed off the mid-Atlantic coast and was expected to bring heavy rain, storm surge and windy conditions over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
A storm churning in waters off the eastern U.S. has increased to tropical storm strength and is forecast to reach the North Carolina coast Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.
