Cyclopia

[visceral_instinct]

Yup, you heard that right. One single midline eye instead of two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopia

http://www.ijo.in/viewimage.asp?img=IndianJOphthalmol_1983_31_1_35_27431_1.jpg

It sucks that it usually only occurs linked to fatal brain deformities. I think an otherwise normal adult human with one single eye would look totally cool. They'd probably get badly bullied, though.

 

[Neverfly]

Over-all, the deformities involved extend far beyond having one central eye. Clearly as very few, if any, survive.

Leela Turango comes to mind...

There are no known animals that have only one natural eye. It's a genetic trait that is very deeply engrained.

 

[visceral_instinct]

Yeah. I guess that would be because you need two eyes for good depth perception.

 

[MarkitScience]

If I'm not mistaken this falls under the umbrella of holoprosencephaly (HPE), which includes a wide range of problems involving malformation of the brain and upper face along the midline.

In the most moderate circumstances the signs of HPE are very subtle, perhaps one single central incisor tooth. The most extreme cases are associated with midline cleft lip and cyclopia.

 

[MacGyver1968]

I have a one eyed wonder worm.

 

[Tiassa]

Smart humor

And yet as I look into this thread, I get sidetracked by the fact that some scientists have truly amazing senses of humor.

 

[MarkitScience]

And yet as I look into this thread, I get sidetracked by the fact that some scientists have truly amazing senses of humor.

haha indeed they do

there's actually an entire gene pathway where most of it's components are named based off superman... those genes include superman, kryptonite, and clark kent!

 

[MarkitScience]

About a year ago I made a post on my blog which shows some pictures of the different phenotypes:

MarkitScience: An Eye Opening Genetic Malformation