Atypical Segregation of Haptoglobin Types in Man

Smithies and Ford-Walker 1 have suggested that the three haptoglobin phenotypes, namely, 1–1, 2–1, and 2–2, detected by starch gel electrophoresis are determined by a pair of allelic genes Hp 1 and Hp 2 . The findings in the eighteen families reported by Smithies and Ford-Walker and also in 106 families reported later by Galatius-Jensen 2 were fully consistent with this hypothesis. Furthermore, the frequencies of the phenotypes in different populations agree well with those expected assuming a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium 2–4 .