39 People Whose Genetics Made Them Unique

The grey patch of hair famously sported by bad-boy Sweeney Todd is a condition known as poliosis. The mechanics of this genetic mutation are relatively simple—when the melanocytes stop producing melanin, the hair starts growing without the pigment. It can be either hereditary or occur with genetic disorder like “piebaldism.” Poliosis comes from Greek word “pilios,” which means grey.

Waardenburg syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder occurring in 1 in 40,000 people. It’s named after a Dutch ophthalmologist, D. J. Waardenburg, who first identified the syndrome in 1951.
The different-colored irises are among the common signs of Waardenburg syndrome, since it affects the pigmentation of hair, skin, and eyes. Other common symptoms of this rare disorder are changes in vision and hearing loss.

Most of us carry one or two birthmarks. This human trait is so common that nobody really thinks twice about them. The first birthmarks appear shortly after we’re born and they’re caused by an overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, and keratinocytes. Some of them fade with time, while others stay for the rest of our lives. One thing is clear—they’re not caused by mothers doing something wrong during pregnancy. It’s a thing of chance!

In most cases, people born with heterochromia⁠—different-colored eyes⁠—experience no other symptoms. These days, multicolor eyes are viewed as a quirky beauty feature and many celebrities are wearing lenses to achieve the look.
Meanwhile, it’s said that there are about 70 to 140 million people around the world with red hair. But the odds of getting these two unusual features at once are really small!

This young man has albinism—a congenital disorder that’s characterized by the absence of pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes. One in 18,000 to 20,000 people has some type of albinism in the US. The blue, purple-like color of his eyes in the picture is due to the absence of melanin in the eyes. Sometimes the blood vessels show through the iris and eyes can even look red or pink.

The condition is known as sectoral heterochromia. It means that only a portion (or sector) of the iris of one eye has a different color than the rest of the iris of that eye. The condition is rare and typically doesn’t have any other significant symptoms or problems. But how captivating it is to look at!

Vitiligo is a long-term condition caused by a lack of melanin, the pigment of skin. It creates patches on the skin and commonly happens on the face, hands, neck, and skin creases. These areas are more prone to sunburn, thus people are recommended to use sunscreen with a high SPF factor. Pop singer Michael Jackson and model Winnie Harlow are known to have the condition.

Giant furred moles are a congenital gene defect that result in hairy patches of darker skin. They usually appear at birth or start developing in the first year of a child's life.
These dark-colored patches are small in children, but most often they grow along with them. Scientists believe that problems with melanocytes (skin cells that produce melanin which gives skin its color) are to blame for pigmented nevi (plural of nevus). The hair that grows from these nevi can be brown or even a bluish-black color.