Does anyone know if there has ever been a documented case of a human cyclops?
I seem to remember stories of farm animals being born as such.
It’s called cyclopia and it’s very rare.
Haj
Definitely yes.
This is the only picture I found so far. In addition to that I remember seeing several examples on a TV program on an anatomical collection (in Vienna I think).
Yes. The condition is called cyclopia. A Google search will tell you all you want to know (and show you more than you probably want to see).
I can’t seem to find rates of occurance, but suffice to say it is rare, but not unheard of.
Actually, I did find rates of occurance. About 1 in 16,000. Though few have the most severe form (one eye), and those that do don’t live long if they are even alive at birth. Strangley, most are female also.
According to a Google image search, many cases of Cyclopia—not always in humans—have two eyeballs “fused” into a single eye, in a single socket, but that have two pupils, irises, etc.
I think this one gives Harlequin Ichthyosis a run for it’s money.
What is this about a sonic hedgehog being involved in Cyclopia? Did someone really name a protein that, or should we be blaming Sega?
It’s not a protein, it’s a gene, and yes, they really did name it “sonic hedgehog”
Sonic hedgehog is the mammalian homologue of the Drosophila gene known as hedgehog (there are 2 other mammalian genes- Indian hedgehog and desert hedgehog). It encodes a protein that is vital to early embryonic development. In addition to birth defects, SHH is overactive in a wide range of digestive tract tumors.
Its function appears to be induction of early limb development, neural tube development, and other important embryonic milestones.
Interestingly, SHH is affected by cholesterol signaling, as alluded to in hajario’s link.