Albino gorilla is a product of incest

The only gorilla that has ever been turned around in the world was born due to the incestuous marriage between its parents, according to a new study.

The gorilla called Snowflake was once famous all over the world as the only albino individual of the species. According to conservationists, Snowflake was born wild with congenital albino - a genetic disorder that caused this gorilla to lack pigments on skin and hair.

People caught Snowflake in the equatorial Guinea in 1966. The rare gorilla then lived for 40 years at Barcelona Zoo (Spain) until he died of skin cancer in 2003.

Vibrant monkeys Snowflake while alive at Barcelona zoo.(Photo: Daily Mail)

Unusual looks that helped Snowflake were selected to appear on the 2001 album Rooty album of dance group Basement Jaxx.

Before dying, a sample of Snowflake's blood was frozen to preserve. Scientists analyzed this frozen blood sample and sequenced the famous gorilla genome in 2012.

According to the article in BMC Genomics magazine, the research team led by Tomas Marques-Bonet from Pompeu Fabra University (Spain) compared the genome of Snowflake with the gorillas' genomes without being Other albino find the cause of its genetic disorder.

The team determined that albinism of Snowflake caused by SLC45A2 gene and inherited mutations directly from parents. In further analysis, they found that Snowflake's parents were closely related to 12% of identical DNA, implying they could be uncle-niece.

The discovery is the first evidence of incest "love" in gorillas growing in the lowlands of the west. However, researcher Marques-Bonet stressed that some small populations of gorillas often mate with each other to preserve the breed or lack of choice.