The Pattern of Morphogenetic Traits Combination amongst the population of Ekpoma, Nigeria: Focus on Dimples, Widows Peak, Blood groups and Genotypes

Variations exist in the pattern by which blood types (ABO and Rh) and genotypes (AA, AS and SS) are inherited. Similar variations exist in the expression of genetic traits like dimples and widows peak. In this study however, we are concerned with the growing sense in genetic epidemiology that many findings are failing to replicate as many of the claimed associations are false positive and these false positives are seen because of the inability to study many genetic variants in relation to many disease outcomes, without knowing the precise bio-cultural background of the groups being studied. Thus, we present a preliminary attempt to determine the combination patterns between some morphogenetic traits expressed by 193 residents of Ekpoma, Nigeria. Focus is on dimples, widows peak, blood groups and genotypes. The results showed that the distribution of blood groups and genotypes are in line with previous finding while the results on morphogenetic trait combinations strikingly suggests that certain combinations might be rare or non-existent. We believe that this and similar findings may one day play a role in ‘predictive human screening’.