Changes in sex proportion--an unacceptable way to estimate sex-linked recessive lethals

Radiation effects on human heredity

In experimental organisms such as fruit flies and mice, increased frequencies in germ cell mutations have been detected following exposure to ionizing radiation. In contrast, there has been no clear evidence for radiation-induced germ cell mutations in humans that lead to birth defects, chromosome aberrations, Mendelian disorders, etc. This situation exists partly because no sensitive and practical genetic marker is available for human studies and also because the number of people exposed to large doses of radiation and subsequently having offspring was small until childhood cancer survivors became an important study population. In addition, the genome of apparently normal individuals seems to contain large numbers of alterations, including dozens to hundreds of nonfunctional alleles. With the number of mutational events in protein-coding genes estimated as less than one per genome after 1 gray (Gy) exposure, it is unsurprising that genetic effects from radiation have not yet been detected conclusively in humans.

Genetic effects of acute spermatogonial X-irradiation of the laboratory rat

The genetic effects of one generation of spermatogonial X-irradiation in rats, by a single dose of 600r in one experiment and by a fractionated dose of 450r in another, were measured in three generations of their descendants. Estimates of dominant lethal mutation rates--(2 to 3) X 10-4/gamete/r--from litter size differences between irradiated and nonirradiated stock were consistent with previous estimates from rats and mice. Similar consistency was found for estimates of sex-linked recessive mutation rates--(1 to 2) X 10-4 chromosome/r--from male proportions within strains; however, when measured in crossbreds the proportion of males was higher in the irradiated than in the nonirradiated lines. This inconsistency in results is in keeping with the contradictory results reported for recessive sex-linked lethal mutation rates in mice. The effects used to estimate recessive lethal mutation rates which were unusually high--(2 to 14) X 10-4/gamete/r--were not significant. Other factors that could have contributed to the observed effects are postulated.