The families in Born in Bradford (BiB) have provided crucial evidence about how consanguinity (sometimes referred to as cousin marriage) impacts on health and wellbeing, and their DNA samples have led to important drug discovery and identification of genes that predict diseases.
Historically, genetic science has concentrated on White European populations, to the neglect of ethnic minority populations. BiB has helped address this inequity.
Implications for policy and practice
There have been attempts to stigmatise and even ban cousin marriage, but its widespread practice globally indicates that more culturally sensitive approaches are required.
Empirical evidence presented in this briefing paper indicates that better education and acculturation is likely to reduce the overall rates of consanguinity across future generations, especially with smaller family sizes restricting potential marriage partner choice.
At the same time, there is also a clear need for increased genetic literacy and awareness of risks for children and young people.
Technological advances in genetic screening such as non-invasive cell-free DNA-based screening (fetal DNA in maternal blood) and genome-wide analysis (genotyping arrays or sequencing) on samples obtained through amniocentesis may support earlier identification of genetic disorders, although these are often rare and specific disorders may be restricted to small communities.
