Applied human genetics

Definition

Medical Genetics: It is the standard method for understanding the inheritance patterns of Mendelian disorders such as Huntington’s disease, Sickle-cell anemia, and Thalassemia.

Thinkers

Radcliffe-Brown: Used genealogies to reconstruct descent groups and social structure in Africa.
Malinowski: Used them to understand kinship and land inheritance among the Trobriand Islanders.
Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
India: S.C. Roy documented Oraon genealogies; Irawati Karve used genealogical mapping to study village kinship and exogamy in Maharashtra.: Applications of Pedigree Analysis.