Imagine not having the three middle toes on your feet. Because that’s how most members live African tribe called Doma, which is located in an arid region of northern Zimbabwe, in the districts of Urungwe and Sipolilo, near the Zambezi Valley.
The condition that affects the African tribe is scientifically known as ectrodactyly. This changes the shape of the feet and/or hands, which only have two large fingers. The limbs still point inward.
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The deformity affects every fourth child of the tribe. Because of this physical characteristic, its members earned the nickname “Ostrich Feet”.
What the African tribe says about the mutation that deforms the feet
The most experienced leaders of the Doma, meaning ‘sons or descendants’, explain the physical condition using local myths.
The group believes that birdlike beings came down from the stars and crossed their DNA with primitive women on Earth to produce their offspring.
These ancestors would have founded the first colonies in a region of the solar system called Liitolafisi. Such a perspective ensures that the community does not view the deformation with evil eyes.
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There are reports that the shape of members’ feet helps them climb trees more easily. The group is the only one in the country not making a living from farming.
The first reports of the Doma were described in 1770 by Jan Jacob Hartsinck, director of the Dutch East India Company. It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that the history of the African tribe began and the deformity of its feet became known.
Researchers say otherwise
Scientists argue that the genetic mutation affecting the African tribe is related to the fact that the group lives in isolation and prohibits marriage to outsiders.
This would have implications for the manifestation of the deformity, since one of the main causes of ectrodactyly is a dominant genetic mutation on chromosome 7.
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Being dominant means that expression or onset of the disease requires only a single copy of an abnormal gene.
Understand the story | African tribe draws attention to genetic mutation that deforms feet