In very rare conditions, an anomaly in a person's genetic code can cause physical abnormalities. Among the laity, this disorder is often considered a curse or associated with mystical things, karma, and even a sign of the apocalypse.
The physical abnormalities experienced by humans due to genetic anomaly can vary, ranging from one eye, two faces, to horned humans. Here are various genetic disorders experienced by humans in various countries, quoted from Interesting Engineering.
7 Genetic Disorders
1. One-eyed baby
A one-eyed baby is born in Yemen. His presence in the world was only seven hours, but much attention has been paid to him until now. This baby boy has only one eye socket and one optic nerve. He was born in March 2022.
The condition of babies born with one eye in the medical world is known as cyclopia. This is a deformed condition that is considered to be one of the rarest in the world.
Cyclopia is also known as alobar holoprosencephaly. This health condition usually occurs in 1 in 100 thousand newborns.
2. Excess finger
A man is born with two middle fingers on each hand. So he has four middle fingers. This condition is called polydactyly, which means it has many fingers, and is hereditary.
Because of that, this man's son also inherited the disorder. His son even has 12 fingers and toes. But unlike his father, this extra finger was surgically removed when he was a child. This condition is also known as hyperdactyly, and it can occur in a variety of other animal species, although it is quite rare.
3. Lack of fingers
Human hands and fingers are highly susceptible to genetic conditions that result in strange developments. In contrast to cases of polydactyly and hyperdactyly, there are genetic disorders that cause fewer fingers or toes than normal.
In this photo, a person has only four fingers on their hand and one index finger where the thumb should be. This genetic condition is called symbrachydactyly which causes babies to be born with underdeveloped or abnormally shaped fingers. This condition is usually treated with surgery and/or prosthetics.
4. Tentacles under the tongue
This image is not a result of Photoshop. This guy actually had a tentacle-like structure dangling below his tongue. Such elongated structures are called plica fimbriata and fortunately are completely harmless.
However, this condition is different from normal tongue in most people. The tentacled tongue can sometimes catch between the teeth.
5. Has two faces
This poor baby was born with a genetic condition called diprosopus which causes him to have two faces. This condition, which is also known as duplication of the skull, is very rare.
Diprosopus causes part or all of the face to be duplicated during the developmental phase in the womb. This is caused by abnormal activity in the SHH (sonic hedgehog) protein. This genetic condition can also occur in various other animal species.
6. Too flexible
This person has a condition called hypermobility. As seen in this picture, he can extend his finger backwards in such a way that he can grip objects upside down.
In normal people, flexibility is usually lost with age and is only seen in about 5% of adults. But for people who experience hypermobility, this condition can be permanent.
7. Horned
A woman from France named Madame Dimanche experienced a strange condition on her head, namely the growth of horns that were more than 25.4 cm high.
This disorder, known as the cornu cutaneum, is actually a very large skin tumor. This disorder is very rare and any horns that form are usually very small.
However, in some unusual cases, especially if left untreated, the horns of the cornu cutaneum can grow quite large and cause severe pain to the sufferer.