Pinglelap's Unique Colorblindness Rate

On Pingelap Atoll in Micronesia, roughly 10% of residents suffer from complete achromatopsia (total color blindness)-while about 30% are asymptomatic carriers of the same autosomal recessive gene-far exceeding the global prevalence of about 1 in 30,000. A catastrophic typhoon in 1775 reduced the population to just around 20 survivors, one of whom carried the rare gene, triggering a founder effect that amplified its frequency over generations.

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