A severe congenital condition where a person is born with absent or severely underdeveloped limbs, sometimes affecting multiple limbs.
From Greek 'ektroma' (defect, abortion) + 'melos' (limb); coined in medical terminology to describe the absence of limbs as a birth defect.
Ectromelia in mice led scientists to discover the 'ectrotropic' retrovirus—sometimes studying disease in animals reveals completely new viruses hiding in plain sight!
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