Society and Culture
In approximately 1775 Typhoon Lengkieki struck and devastated the Micronesian atoll of Pingelap. The typhoon and ensuing famine left only around 20 survivors, one of whom was heterozygous for achromatopsia. Four generations after this population bottleneck the prevalence of achromatopsia is 5% with a further 30% as carriers. The people of this region have termed achromatopsia "maskun", which literally means "not see" in Pingelapese. This unusual population drew neurologist Oliver Sacks to the island for which he wrote his 1997 book, The Island of the Colour-blind. Steppenwolf front man John Kay suffers from achromatopsia.
Read more about this topic: Achromatopsia
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