Did you know what Albinism is? Albinism is a
congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of
pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of
melanin.
Did you know that Albinism is also called
achromia,
achromasia, or
achromatosis)?
Did you know that Albinism results from inheritance of
recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all
vertebrates, including
humans. The most common term used for an organism affected by albinism is "
albino". Additional clinical adjectives sometimes used to refer to animals are "albinoid" and "albinic".
Albinism is associated with a number of vision defects, such as
photophobia,
nystagmus and
astigmatism. Lack of skin pigmentation makes the organism more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancers.
Did you know that most forms of albinism are the result of the
biological inheritance of
genetically recessive alleles (
genes) passed from both parents of an individual, though some rare forms are inherited from only one parent
?
Did you know that In
Zimbabwe, the men believe that sex with an albinistic woman will cure a man of
HIV has led to
rapes (and subsequent HIV infection)?.
[19]
Did you know that in Tanzania, in September 2009, three men were convicted of killing a 14-year-old albino boy and severing his legs in order to sell them for witchcraft purposes
?
Did you know many animals with albinism lack their protective
camouflage and are unable to conceal themselves from their predators or prey; the survival rate of animals with albinism in the wild is usually quite low
? However the novelty of albino animals has occasionally led to their protection by groups such as the
Albino Squirrel Preservation Society.
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