The microevolutionary process--a view from South America.

After a short review on opinions about human evolutionary genetics and the prospects for understanding the biological variation present in our species, descriptions are made for studies performed in Brazil concerning: (a) C-band variability in chromosomes 1, 9, 16 and Y in Indian populations, with a Caucasoid sample used for comparison; (b) The paradox of the restricted number of HLA haplotypes observed in Indian groups, coupled with a finding of significantly less homozygotes than those expected assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; (c) The distribution of Gc and Tf isoelectric focusing subtypes in Indians and its anthropological significance; (d) Racial admixture quantitative estimations in samples from two Indian tribes and two cities.