Mahua Sengupta

Bio: Mahua Sengupta is an academic researcher from Indian Statistical Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dermatoglyphics & Fluctuating asymmetry. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 4 publications receiving 50 citations.

Mode of inheritance of finger dermatoglyphic traits among Vaidyas of West Bengal, India

Abstract: Background: It is well established that dermatoglyphics are genetically determined. But, to date, few studies have given attention to the inheritance pattern of dermatoglyphics. Furthermore, despit...

Genetics of anthropometric asymmetry in an Indian endogamous population—Vaidyas

Abstract: To understand the genetics of Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) and Directional Asymmetry (DA), the present study comprised 14 bilateral morphometric traits from 200 Vaidya families including 824 individuals (of two generations) from North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. The statistical analysis included: Regression analysis to remove the age effect, Familial correlation, Heritability estimation, Principal Component Analysis and Segregation Analysis (SA) using genetic model test. The obtained results revealed little effect of genetic factor and considerable amount of environmental influence on anthropometric asymmetry. The results support the idea postulated by several previous authors that FA provides a measure of developmental instability in man. The contribution of heredity on these asymmetric variables is not unimportant but that of the common environment is very substantial. The magnitude of heritability of DA traits is slightly higher than that of FA traits. Five principal factors were detected from these asymmetric traits (three factors are on asymmetry on length, head, and breadth; while last two factors represent the asymmetry of diameters). SA did not suggest any evidence of major gene contribution. But the involvement of minor genes or polygenes could not be discarded. As the study on SA of asymmetry in man is limited, similar other studies are needed to confirm the result of the present study.Am. J. Hum. Biol. 19:399–408, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Intergenerational trend of some dermatoglyphic traits in Vaidyas of West Bengal, India.

Abstract: In order to investigate the intergenerational change of dermatoglyphics, fingerprints of 400 individuals were collected from an endogamous caste Vaidyas of Barasat, West Bengal. Results were compared with the data of an earlier sample of Banerjee collected in 35 years before on the same community of the same area. As it is generally known that dermatoglyphics is selectively neutral, thus if no other evolutionary forces play a role, we cannot expect any change of dermatoglyphic characters after several years. In the present study, non-significant change in the frequency of pattern and more or less same PII have been observed in both sexes. But significant quantitative differences were found between the two samples. These differences may not be due to the change of intra-uterine environment, rather due to the inter-observer error of these two studies and the small sample size of the earlier study. Because though same methods were used in both studies, inter-observer variation is much possible in ridge counting than pattern type determination.

Inheritance of six anthropometric traits in Vaidyas of West Bengal, India.

Abstract: Background: Anthropometric traits are important quantitative traits used by biological anthropologists. Surprisingly little is known about their pattern of inter-generational transmission, probably...

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Foetus into Man: Physical Growth from Conception to Maturity

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Facial asymmetry in young healthy subjects evaluated by statistical shape analysis

Abstract: Statistical shape analysis, a relatively a new method for biological research, compares body forms by using specific landmarks determined by anatomical prominences. In this study, we aimed to identify normal facial asymmetry between the right and the left sides of the face. Facial landmark data were collected from two-dimensional digital images of 321 young healthy subjects (150 males and 171 females). These data were analysed using Euclidean distance matrix analysis. The number of significantly asymmetric linear distances between the two halves of the face was greater in females than in males. We found that the left side of the face was most commonly dominant in both males and females. Such data may be useful in establishing a database for future similar studies.