The Albinism
What is Albinism? 【By Danny Z.
What is Albinism?
The word “albinism” refers to a group of inherited conditions, which causes people have no pigment, or melanin, a substance that gives the skin and hair its natural color, in their eyes, skin, or hair. Although they may have already inherited pigment called melanin but do not make usual amounts. Those with darker skin have higher amounts of melanin. By contrast, those with less pigment have lighter or more fair skin coloring.
Albinism≠benefit
Since they do not inherited the amount of melanin we need, so is definitely not for our benefit. For example, It does not protect us against the sun's ray, and affects our skins too. People with albinism that do not receive skin protection properly would not able to do outdoor activity like normal people(needs to wear proper cloths or sun lotion), especially for those who live in the tropical country. Melanin are also responsible for our eyes. Individuals with black or brown eyes have eyes with more melanin to block sun's rays. Those with blue, green, or hazel eyes have little protection from the sun and may experience discomfort(sunglasses is needed). It was very common in white people's race since their skin and eye color are usually close to the symptom of albinism.
What causes Albinism and what's more about them?
Albinism is a "recessive trait" and a mutation in one of the several genes( the lack of melanin). Even a person that can make pigment, but will still carry the albinism trait no matter what. The genes for OCA (a group of conditions that affect coloring(pigmentation) of the skin, hair , and eyes) are located on “autosomes” chromosomes. Autosomes are the chromosomes that contain genes for our general body characteristics, contrasted to the sex chromosomes, so both parents must carry a defective OCA gene(due to the lack of protein) to have a child with albinism. However, people with albinism are at risk of isolation because the condition is often misunderstood. Since people often judge other people's race or skin color in social. Instead of exclude them in social activity, we should given more love and care toward them without discrimination.
Resources from:
http://www.albinism.org/publications/what_is_albinism.html
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/oculocutaneous-albinism
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-melanin.htm
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What is Albinism?