First of all, albinism mean that a person doesn't have the usual amount of pigment, or color. You might know that albinism causes a kind of pale appearance.
The pigment is called Melanin
. Melanin is a chemical in our bodies that colors our skin, eyes, and hair. It's made by melanocytes , which are cells found in the bottom layer of your skin.
Besides, albinism is causes by a person's genes.
Everyone's body is made up of billions of cells, which are too small to see without a strong microscope. Inside these cells are things called chromosomes, which contain thousands of genes. These genes give us our physical traits — how we look — and lots of other stuff about us, like the instructions our body parts need to work properly.
Genes carry the information that makes you an individual
Everyone has two sets of genes. Half of your genes are from your dad, and half are from your mom. Sometimes, a mom and a dad might carry an "albinism gene" but not show any signs of albinism themselves. But they might have a kid who has albinism. How can that be?
Well, this happens because each parent has a normal pigment gene and an albinism gene. For a kid to have albinism, the dad's albinism gene and the mom's albinism gene both have to get passed on to the kid.
But if a kid gets an albinism gene from one parent and a normal pigment gene from the other, the kid won't have albinism. Instead, the kid will be a "carrier" of an albinism gene — which means he or she would have one normal pigment gene and one albinism gene. So, if that kid grows up and has a child with someone who is also a carrier of an albinism gene, there would be a chance that their child might have albinism. eee We are going to take an example of a kid who have albinism
There are different kinds of albinism. Some kids with albinism might have pale skin or hair. Other types of albinism might affect only the eyes.
Most kids with albinism have blue eyes, and others have brownish eyes.
So we can say that