F (coefficient of inbreeding): F is the symbol for
the coefficient of inbreeding, a way of gauging how close two people
are genetically to one another. The coefficient of inbreeding, F, is
the probability that a person with two identical genes received both
genes from one
ancestor.
Take, for example, the mating of first cousins who, by definition,
share a set of grandparents. For any particular gene in the male, the
chance that his female first cousin inherited the same gene from the
same source is 1/8. Further, for any gene the man passes to his
child, the chance is 1/8 that the woman has the same gene and
