News Finding: "We are very confident that the APAF1 stop-gain mutation is the cause of fertility loss in Chief's lineage," Lewin says.
Paper Finding: These estimates correspond to approximately 140,000 spontaneous abortions in the United States and 525,000 worldwide over a 35-yr period, the approximate time that Chief alleles appeared on both sides of the pedigree.
News Context: The severely shortened APAF1 peptide has the effect of making the genes inoperative because the critical piece is in the truncated portion. "We are very confident that the APAF1 stop-gain mutation is the cause of fertility loss in Chief's lineage," Lewin says. A single midterm abortion could cost a dairy about $800.
Paper Context: Globally, the estimate is 15,000/yr based on a population size of 30 million. These estimates correspond to approximately 140,000 spontaneous abortions in the United States and 525,000 worldwide over a 35-yr period, the approximate time that Chief alleles appeared on both sides of the pedigree. Carrier frequency in US Holsteins exceeded 0.08 during the 1980s and 1990s but decreased to about 0.03 in 2010 .