Inbred family so incestuous their skin turned blue from super rare defect
dailyrecord.co.ukA family with a huge history of incest developed blue skin due to a rare genetic condition passed down through generations. The Fugates, from an isolated rural community in Troublesome Creek in Kentucky, were known for inbreeding within the family.This is understood to have started in 1820, when Martin Fugate and his wife Elizabeth Smart settled in the secluded area of Appalachia, located in Perry County, Kentucky.
Mr Fugate carried an extremely rare genetic defect known as methaemoglobinaemia, which affects a mere 0.0035 per cent of the global population.This condition prevents blood from carrying sufficient oxygen around the body, causing the blood to turn brown due to a lack of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
Consequently, the skin of white patients turns blue, and some people's lips become purple, The Mirror reports.When Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of them inherited the blue skin from the recessive gene methaemoglobinaemia.
However, the condition would have been extremely unlikely to have affected future generations if they hadn't continued to marry within the family.
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