ECTOPIA

In medicine an 'ectopia' is a displacement or malposition of an organ of the body. Most ectopias are congenital but some may happen later in life.

★ Ectopia lentis is the displacement of the crystalline lens of the eye

★ Ectopia cordis is the displacement of the heart outside the body during fetal development

★ Renal ectopia occurs when both kidneys occur on the same side of the body

★ Ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants anywhere other than the uterine wall

★ Cardiac ectopy occurs when electrical signals for a heartbeat originate in the wrong part of the heart muscle.
In molecular biology a gene is ectopically expressed when it is expressed in an abnormal place.