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With such a small number of immigrants coming to Québec in the 17th and 18th centuries and the fact they they remained fairly isolated from other ethnic gene pools, descendants of these pioneers often face medical problems caused by genetic inheritance.

Today’s guest Muriel Normand takes us through Genetics 101 to help us understand the founder effect. Then she explores a very common inherited disease among French-Canadians, OPMD (oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy).

Follow along in the show notes at maplestarsandstripes.com/47.

Be sure to listen to the end of the podcast so you can join our book giveaway and participate in Survey #47, how long have you been researching your French-Canadian lines?