And we thought the Amish were harmless....

Five years after the human genome was mapped, some of the promises are being fulfilled. Gene mappers in Amish Pennsylvania are unlocking genetic diseases. Going on information from the human genome project, studying inbred populations is showing a genetic flaw in such diseases such as SIDS.

I visited the Amish country in Indiana when I was in Chicago a month ago. First of all, their lifestyle is strongly based on faith, which I can respect but not fully understand. As this article mentions, generations of marrying within your close community cause an increased rate of genetic mutations. That I can understand, but I can also (sorta) understand their fear of losing their way of life if they "outbreed". Yet if nothing is done, such isolated communities will lose their way of life because eventually they will not be able to have enough viable offspring.

So, what's the solution? Beats me....I can understand the long-term consquences of inbreeding, but there are no easy solutions to their dilemma because we respect their right to live the way they want to.