Though there is a long-standing debate on the faculty 'inbreeding' of Korean medical schools, one knows little about what and how is the status. Based on [Current Educational Status of Medical Schools] by the Korean Council of Deans of Medical College, the basic data on the medical professors are presented. By May 2000, the total of 7,511 professors were in 41 medical schools. Among them, 6,963 (92.7%) were M.D. More than 90% of M.D. professors of 9 medical schools(19.5%) were their own graduates, while those of 15 medical schools(36.6%) do not have the majority of graduates and they are relatively new ones. Many medical professors(3,114, 44.7%) works at the medical schools that they graduated. However, eight schools established before 1955 have their own graduates 40.8% of M.D. professors, and 14 schools established from 1965 to 1982 have 57.7%. Korean medical schools have trend that they have chosen their own graduates as medical professors. And the relatively new schools follows the trend.
Educational Status ; Humans ; Inbreeding* ; Schools, Medical*

Allelic differences in A and B mating-type loci are a prerequisite for the progression of mating in the genus Pleurotus eryngii; thus, the crossing is hampered by this biological barrier in inbreeding. Molecular markers linked to mating types of P. eryngii KNR2312 were investigated with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA to enhance crossing efficiency. An A4-linked sequence was identified and used to find the adjacent genomic region with the entire motif of the A locus from a contig sequenced by PacBio. The sequence-characterized amplified region marker 7-2299 distinguished A4 mating-type monokaryons from KNR2312 and other strains. A BLAST search of flanked sequences revealed that the A4 locus had a general feature consisting of the putative HD1 and HD2 genes. Both putative HD transcription factors contain a homeodomain sequence and a nuclear localization sequence; however, valid dimerization motifs were found only in the HD1 protein. The ACAAT motif, which was reported to have relevance to sex determination, was found in the intergenic region. The SCAR marker could be applicable in the classification of mating types in the P. eryngii breeding program, and the A4 locus could be the basis for a multi-allele detection marker.
Breeding ; Cicatrix ; Classification ; Dimerization ; DNA ; DNA, Intergenic ; Inbreeding ; Pleurotus ; Transcription Factors

GENDISCAN study (Gene Discovery for Complex traits in Asian population of Northeast area) was designed to incorporate methodologies which enhance the power to identify genetic variations underlying complex disorders. Use of population isolates as the target population is a unique feather of this study. However, population isolates may have hidden inbreeding structures which can affect the validity of the study. To understand how this issue may affect results of GENDISCAN, we estimated inbreeding coefficients in two study populations in Mongolia. We analyzed the status of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), polymorphism information contents (PIC), heterozygosity, allelic diversity, and inbreeding coefficients, using 317 and 1,044 STR (short tandem repeat) markers in Orkhontuul and Dashbalbar populations. HWE assumptions were generally met in most markers (88.6% and 94.2% respectively), and single marker PIC ranged between 0.2 and 0.9. Inbreeding coefficients were estimated to be 0.0023 and 0.0021, which are small enough to assure that conventional genetic analysis would work without any specific modification. We concluded that the population isolates used in GENDISCAN study would not present significant inflation of type I errors from inbreeding effects in its gene discovery analysis.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Feathers ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genetic Variation ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Inbreeding ; Inflation, Economic ; Mongolia

GENDISCAN study (Gene Discovery for Complex traits in Asian population of Northeast area) was designed to incorporate methodologies which enhance the power to identify genetic variations underlying complex disorders. Use of population isolates as the target population is a unique feather of this study. However, population isolates may have hidden inbreeding structures which can affect the validity of the study. To understand how this issue may affect results of GENDISCAN, we estimated inbreeding coefficients in two study populations in Mongolia. We analyzed the status of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), polymorphism information contents (PIC), heterozygosity, allelic diversity, and inbreeding coefficients, using 317 and 1,044 STR (short tandem repeat) markers in Orkhontuul and Dashbalbar populations. HWE assumptions were generally met in most markers (88.6% and 94.2% respectively), and single marker PIC ranged between 0.2 and 0.9. Inbreeding coefficients were estimated to be 0.0023 and 0.0021, which are small enough to assure that conventional genetic analysis would work without any specific modification. We concluded that the population isolates used in GENDISCAN study would not present significant inflation of type I errors from inbreeding effects in its gene discovery analysis.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Feathers ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genetic Variation ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Inbreeding ; Inflation, Economic ; Mongolia

PURPOSE: This article is prepared in order to know how many professors are in our medical colleges according to their specialties and how is the "inbreeding", or status of employment to the college where he/she graduated. METHODS: Based on [Current Educational Status of Medical Schools] put out by the Korean Council of Deans of Medical College, in May 2002, we had 7, 867 professors in 41 medical schools. RESULTS: Among them, 7, 280 (92.5%) were medical doctors (MD). There had been 1, 063 new professors since May 1998. The biggest one has 808 and the smallest has 46 professors. Although there was a small increase in the number of professors in most specialties, dermatology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, and psychiatry showed a small decrease. This is because many doctors in these specialties had opened private clinics after the 2002 Dispute on Health Insurance System. The MD faculties at 8 medical schools, which were established before 1965, were comprised of 83.8% of their own graduates, while those at 14 medical schools (established between 1965 - 1982) had 37.3% of their own graduates. CONCLUSION: This "inbreeding" of faculty members was prominent in older schools though this tendency could also be seen in younger schools. Early exposure to and communication with other institutes or facilitates the reduction of the "inbreeding" phenomenon.
Academies and Institutes ; Dermatology ; Dissent and Disputes ; Educational Status ; Employment ; Humans ; Inbreeding* ; Insurance, Health ; Ophthalmology ; Schools, Medical* ; Surgery, Plastic

The application of new biotechnology has developed with tremendous speed, and DNA technology has created ethical problems related human right, such as early diagnosis, mass screening, prenatal diagnosis, carrier detection of genetic diseases, as well as prediction of genetic susceptibility to common diseases, which become more and more important on our social lives, using genetic counselling businesses, together with such preventive measure as prohibition of inbreeding and promotion of family planing in eugenic law, have been mostly effective. Recently medical assisted procreation, such as artificial conception has developed rapidly, and most recently, cloning embryo experiments reported, these application are still in early stages, and followed ethical debates in this new reproductive technologies. The most vexing ethical issues involve techniques with less obvious benefit to society and greater potential for abuse, therefore, this paper discussed the dangers and ethical problems related with human right such as the development of genome plane, employment, insurance, crime detection by DNA fingerprint, medical diagnosis and treatment by biotechnology, and the manipulation of gene also discussed.
Biotechnology ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; Commerce ; Crime ; Diagnosis ; DNA ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Early Diagnosis ; Embryonic Structures ; Employment ; Ethics ; Fertilization ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genome ; Human Rights* ; Humans* ; Inbreeding ; Insurance ; Jurisprudence ; Mass Screening ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Reproductive Techniques