Editing SIDS (section)

===Genetics===
[[Genetics]] plays a role, as SIDS is more prevalent in males.<ref name="wonderANDwho">See [http://wonder.cdc.gov CDC WONDER online database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424201355/http://wonder.cdc.gov/ |date=2010-04-24 }} and {{cite web |url=http://www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm?path=whosis,inds,mort&language=english |title=WHO Mortality Database |date=23 November 2001 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |access-date=2006-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627063703/http://www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm?path=whosis,inds,mort&language=english |archive-date=2004-06-27 }} for data on SIDS by gender in the US and throughout the world.</ref><ref name="Mage DT, Donner EM 2004 1210–5">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mage DT, Donner EM | title = The fifty percent male excess of infant respiratory mortality | journal = Acta Paediatrica | volume = 93 | issue = 9 | pages = 1210–1215 | date = September 2004 | pmid = 15384886 | doi = 10.1080/08035250410031305 }}</ref>  There is a consistent 50% male excess in SIDS per 1000 live births of each sex. Given a 5% male excess birth rate, there appears to be 3.15 male SIDS cases per 2 female cases, for a male fraction of 0.61.<ref name="wonderANDwho"/><ref name="Mage DT, Donner EM 2004 1210–5"/> This value of 61% in the US is an average of 57% black male SIDS, 62.2% white male SIDS, and 59.4% for all other races combined. Note that when multiracial parentage is involved, the infant's race is arbitrarily assigned to one category or the other; most often, it is chosen by the mother. The [[sex linkage|X-linkage]] hypothesis for SIDS and the male excess in infant mortality have shown that the 50% male excess might be related to a dominant X-linked [[allele]], occurring with a frequency of {{Frac|1|3}} that is protective against [[Cerebral hypoxia|transient cerebral anoxia]]. An unprotected male would occur with a frequency of {{Frac|2|3}} and an unprotected female would occur with a frequency of {{Frac|4|9}}.

About 10 to 20% of SIDS cases are believed to be due to [[channelopathies]], which are inherited defects in the [[ion channels]] that play an important role in the contraction of the heart.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Behere SP, Weindling SN | title = Inherited arrhythmias: The cardiac channelopathies | journal = Annals of Pediatric Cardiology | volume = 8 | issue = 3 | pages = 210–220 | date = 2014 | pmid = 26556967 | pmc = 4608198 | doi = 10.4103/0974-2069.164695 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Genetic evidence published in November 2020 concerning the case of [[Kathleen Folbigg]], who was imprisoned for the death of her children, showed that at least two of the children had genetic mutations in the [[CALM2]] gene that predisposed them to heart complications.<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = de Vinuesa CG |title=Kathleen Folbigg's children likely died of natural causes, not murder. Here's the evidence my team found |url=http://theconversation.com/kathleen-folbiggs-children-likely-died-of-natural-causes-not-murder-heres-the-evidence-my-team-found-156487 |access-date=2021-12-16 |website=The Conversation |date=4 March 2021 |language=en |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304085909/http://theconversation.com/kathleen-folbiggs-children-likely-died-of-natural-causes-not-murder-heres-the-evidence-my-team-found-156487 |url-status=live }}</ref> Kathleen was pardoned 5 June 2023 after spending 20 years in jail.<ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Rose T |date=2023-06-05 |title=Kathleen Folbigg pardoned and released after 20 years in jail over deaths of her four children |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/05/kathleen-folbigg-pardoned-after-20-years-in-jail-over-deaths-of-her-four-children |access-date=2023-06-05 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>