Ew! Harry Potter is Nasty.

Two issues: Genetics and Anthropology.

Genetics

Some traits are dominant, some are recessive. For example, brown eyes are dominant while blue eyes are recessive. Two brown-eyed parents, if they both have the recessive gene for blue eyes, have a 25% chance of producing a blue-eyed child. Personally, I have brown eyes and am a “carrier” of blue, while my spouse has blue eyes, which means that we have a 50% chance of having a blue-eyed child. Then comes the luck factor. Both of my children happen to have blue eyes. And no, we are not related as far back as anyone knows.

Two blue-eyed parents can not produce a brown eyed child. Also, if you live in a small, isolated community that has never seen a blue-eyed person, you can interbreed for thousands of years and never see blue eyes. Interbreeding doesn’t cause the recessive trait to exist. It just increases the odds that they will find each other.

Most hereditary conditions that are recessive work the same way. You need to have it on both sides to pass it on. You do not need to be related to pass it on, but it increases the chances.

(The exception to this is hereditary conditions that are attached to the sex chromosome, such as hemophelia. I can give you a lecture on that too, if you like. I got a million of ‘em.)

None of this, however, is relevant to the taboo.

Anthropology

The incest taboo is defined differently by different cultures. The only truly universal taboo is between parent and child. And it’s not about genetics at all. It’s about holding the society together. What works and what doesn’t, depending on where you are.

One common custom was the REQUIRED Matralinial Cross-Cousin Marriage, popular in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But I gotta go. Enough lectures for now.

Dobbin you got to know this : When I say " my uncle " and " my aunt " , I don't mean my dad's sister and brother . They're actually my grandpa's brother's daughter and my grandma's sister's son . We got a bunch of different names to describe different relationships between a family , while in English there are just " uncle " and " aunt " . So you still reckon that's a gross ? I don't think you meet your " mother's sister's husband's brother's son " ( Sorry but I've tried my best to express... ) very often .

rita! you are soooo right! we have the same here...bunch of names...bunch of them to know...
and i agree with you on the grossity thing too lol

ahhh i like that girl....

You know... Franklin D.Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were distant cousins... they even had the same last name!
Just saying.

and Einstain married his cousin too

See ? So that happens from time to time !

[quote-=hedwig123;54537]You know... Franklin D.Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were distant cousins... they even had the same last name!
Just saying.[/quote]

Yeah but I think that if your more than 1st cousins its ok.....

My ganny and my grandfather are cousens 9 times remuved....Spll it wrong