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Originally Posted by Mithalwen
Although Mendel started his experiments in the 1850s it is fair to say that it was still a very new branch of science when Tolkien was writing and I wouldn't think that errors would cause much impairment of the work.
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I'm fairly sure not only that you are right, but also that when Mendel 'discovered' genetics, no one really payed attention until quite a few years after that. I took intro Bio in which we studied Mendel's work but I can't recall exactly when it happened that science took an interest in genetics again. I would think it was not until at least 1930, as the "boom" in genetics did not happen until mid-20th century.
Regarding albino characters, it is unlikely that there would be many. I don't know the statistics on how many albino individuals there are in a population but it's unlikely to be too big... and if you take into account that science was not very well developed in the timeframe Middle Earth is set on, it is likely that albino people would have been discriminated and ostracised by society. Either that or adored as demi-gods because their white skin showed how pure they are or something like that
