Abstract
The populations of two Western Desert Egyptian oases have been studied for various genetic markers of the blood and some anthropological characters. Hb AS was found in 9%. Blood group frequencies were similar in both oases; 10.2% were RhD-negative, G-6-PD deficiency was found in 7.5 %; GdA had a frequency of 1 % in El-Kharga and 16% in El-Dakhla; PGDC was 5.5% in El-Kharga and 6.2 % in El-Dakhla. All individuals examined were homozygous for AK1; acid phosphatase gene frequencies in El-Kharga were Pa = 0.1475, Pc = 0.0164, Pr= 0.0164; in El-Dakhla, Pa = 0.0667, Pc = 0.00, Pr = 0.0333; in El-Kharga the Hp gene had a frequency of 0.4415, Hpo-o = 8.29%; in El-Dakhla, Hp1 had a frequency of 0.3245, Hpo-o = 3.39%. The information provided points to a mixture of Caucasian and negroid features in the populations studied. The negroid influence is more marked in the El-Dakhla oasis. Head measurements show that El-Kharga males reveal more Caucasoid stock and are closer to the Upper Egyptians than most populations of the neighboring oases.