Question

Is albinism a pleiotropy?

Answer 1

Albinism:

1. Albinism is a pleiotropy.
2. With albinism, a rare genetic disease, you don't have the normal amount of melanin pigment at birth.
3. The color of your skin, hair, and eyes is determined by a substance in your body called melanin.
4. The majority of albinos have extremely pale skin, hair, and eyes.
5. They are vulnerable to skin cancer and sunburn.
6. Pleiotropy arises when one gene affects two or more phenotypic qualities that appear to be unrelated.
7. Pleiotropic genes are those that show multiple phenotypic expressions.
8. All forms of albinism display pleiotropy, in which a single gene mutation affects various organ systems.
9. The integument and the eyes are most obviously damaged, but the neurological, hematological, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems may also be infrequently impacted.