Symptoms include:

- Severe sunburn when exposed to only small amounts of sunlight. These often occur during a child's first exposure to sunlight.

- Development of many freckles at an early age

- Rough-surfaced growths (solar keratoses), and skin cancers

- Eyes that are painfully sensitive to the sun and may easily become irritated, bloodshot and clouded

- Blistering or freckling on minimum sun exposure

- Spider Veins

- Limited growth of hair on chest and legs

- Scaly skin

- Dry skin

- Irregular dark spots on the skin

- Corneal ulcerations

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder of DNA repair in which the ability to repair damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) light is deficient. In extreme cases, "all" exposure to sunlight must be forbidden, no matter how small; as such, individuals with the disease are often colloquially referred to as "Moon children". Multiple basal cell carcinomas (basaliomas) and other skin malignancies frequently occur at a young age in those with XP; metastatic malignant melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two most common causes of death in XP victims. This disease is present in both genders and in all races, with an incidence of 1:250,000 in the United States. XP is roughly six times more common in Japanese people than in other groups.

Normally, damage to DNA in epidermal cells occurs during exposure to UV light. The absorption of the high-energy light leads to the formation of pyrimidine dimers, namely cyclobutane-pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine-6-4-pyrimidone photoproducts. In a healthy, normal human being, the damage is first excised by endonucleases. DNA polymerase then repairs the missing sequence, and ligase "seals" the transaction. This process is known as nucleotide excision repair.

The most common characteristics include a distinct craniofacial phenotype (microcephaly, micrognathia, short philtrum, prominent glabella, ocular hypertelorism, dysplastic ears and periauricular tags), growth restriction, intellectual disability, muscle hypotonia, seizures, and congenital heart defects. Less common characteristics include hypospadias, colobomata of the iris, renal anomalies, and deafness. Antibody deficiencies are also common, including common variable immunodeficiency and IgA deficiency. T-cell immunity is normal.

Cockayne syndrome (CS), also called Neill-Dingwall syndrome, is a rare and fatal autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by growth failure, impaired development of the nervous system, abnormal sensitivity to sunlight (photosensitivity), eye disorders and premature aging. Failure to thrive and neurological disorders are criteria for diagnosis, while photosensitivity, hearing loss, eye abnormalities, and cavities are other very common features. Problems with any or all of the internal organs are possible. It is associated with a group of disorders called leukodystrophies, which are conditions characterized by degradation of neurological white matter. The underlying disorder is a defect in a DNA repair mechanism. Unlike other defects of DNA repair, patients with CS are not predisposed to cancer or infection. Cockayne syndrome is a rare but destructive disease usually resulting in death within the first or second decade of life. The mutation of specific genes in Cockayne syndrome is known, but the widespread effects and its relationship with DNA repair is yet to be well understood.

It is named after English physician Edward Alfred Cockayne (1880–1956) who first described it in 1936 and re-described in 1946. Neill-Dingwall syndrome was named after Mary M. Dingwall and Catherine A. Neill. These women described the case of two brothers with Cockayne syndrome and asserted it was the same disease described by Cockayne. In their article the women contributed to the symptoms of the disease through their discovery of calcifications in the brain. They also compared Cockayne syndrome to what is now known as Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), then called progeria, due to the advanced aging that characterizes both disorders.

A DNA repair-deficiency disorder is a medical condition due to reduced functionality of DNA repair.

DNA repair defects can cause an accelerated aging disease or an increased risk of cancer, or sometimes both.

Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS), also known as chromosome deletion Dillan 4p syndrome, Pitt–Rogers–Danks syndrome (PRDS) or Pitt syndrome, was first described in 1961 by Americans Herbert L. Cooper and Kurt Hirschhorn and, thereafter, gained worldwide attention by publications by the German Ulrich Wolf, and Hirschhorn and their co-workers, specifically their articles in the German scientific magazine "Humangenetik". It is a characteristic phenotype resulting from a partial deletion of chromosomal material of the short arm of chromosome 4 (del(4p16.3)).

Symptoms of this disorder commonly appear between one and two years of age. Symptoms include mildly coarsened facial features, deafness, ichthyosis and an enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomegaly). Abnormalities of the skeleton, such as a curving of the spine and breast bone may occur. The skin of individuals afflicted with this disorder, is typically dry. Children affected by this disorder develop more slowly than normal and may display delayed speech and walking skills.

The disease is fatal, with symptoms that include neurological damage and severe mental retardation. These sulfatase enzymes are responsible for breaking down and recycling complex sulfate-containing sugars from lipids and mucopolysaccharides within the lysosome. The accumulation of lipids and mucopolysaccharides inside the lysosome results in symptoms associated with this disorder. Worldwide, forty cases of Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency have been reported to date.

Children with progeria usually develop the first symptoms during their first few months of life. The earliest symptoms may include a failure to thrive and a localized scleroderma-like skin condition. As a child ages past infancy, additional conditions become apparent usually around 18–24 months. Limited growth, full-body alopecia (hair loss), and a distinctive appearance (a small face with a shallow recessed jaw, and a pinched nose) are all characteristics of progeria. Signs and symptoms of this progressive disease tend to become more marked as the child ages. Later, the condition causes wrinkled skin, atherosclerosis, kidney failure, loss of eyesight, and cardiovascular problems. Scleroderma, a hardening and tightening of the skin on trunk and extremities of the body, is prevalent. People diagnosed with this disorder usually have small, fragile bodies, like those of elderly people. The face is usually wrinkled, with a larger head in relation to the body, a narrow face and a beak nose. Prominent scalp veins are noticeable (made more obvious by alopecia), as well as prominent eyes. Musculoskeletal degeneration causes loss of body fat and muscle, stiff joints, hip dislocations, and other symptoms generally absent in the non-elderly population. Individuals usually retain typical mental and motor development.

Trichothiodystrophy (TTD) is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder characterised by brittle hair and intellectual impairment. The word breaks down into "tricho" – "hair", "thio" – "sulphur", and "dystrophy" – "wasting away" or literally "bad nourishment". TTD is associated with a range of symptoms connected with organs of the ectoderm and neuroectoderm. TTD may be subclassified into four syndromes: Approximately half of all patients with trichothiodystrophy have photosensitivity, which divides the classification into syndromes with or without photosensitivity; BIDS and PBIDS, and IBIDS and PIBIDS. Modern covering usage is TTD-P (photosensitive), and TTD.

In at least some case, the gene lesion involves a mutation in the "CSB" gene.

It can be associated with "ERCC6".

Multiple sulfatase deficiency (also known as "Austin disease", and "mucosulfatidosis") is a very rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency in multiple sulfatase enzymes, or in formylglycine-generating enzyme, which activates sulfatases. It is similar to mucopolysaccharidosis.

Clinically, McKusick–Kaufman syndrome is characterized by a combination of three features: postaxial polydactyly, heart defects, and genital abnormalities:

- Vaginal atresia with hydrometrocolpos

- Double vagina and/or uterus.

- Hypospadias, chordee (a downward-curving penis), and undescended testes (cryptorchidism).

- ureter stenosis or ureteric atresia

DeSanctis–Cacchione syndrome is an extremely rare disorder characterized by the skin and eye symptoms of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) occurring in association with microcephaly, progressive mental retardation, retarded growth and sexual development, deafness, choreoathetosis, ataxia and quadriparesis.

Tyrosinemia type III is a rare disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (), encoded by the gene "HPD". This enzyme is abundant in the liver, and smaller amounts are found in the kidneys. It is one of a series of enzymes needed to break down tyrosine. Specifically, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase converts a tyrosine byproduct called 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate to homogentisic acid. Characteristic features of type III tyrosinemia include mild mental retardation, seizures, and periodic loss of balance and coordination (intermittent ataxia). Type III tyrosinemia is very rare; only a few cases have been reported.

Hyper-IgM syndrome type 4 is a form of Hyper IgM syndrome which is a defect in class switch recombination downstream of the AICDA gene that does not impair somatic hypermutation.

Persons with this syndrome have smaller than normal head sizes (microcephaly), are of short stature (dwarfism), their eyes appear sunken, and they have an "aged" look. They often have long limbs with joint contractures (inability to relax muscle at a joint), a hunched back (kyphosis), and they may be very thin (cachetic), due to a loss of subcutaneous fat. Their small chin, large ears, and pointy, thin nose often give an aged appearance.

The skin of those with Cockayne syndrome is also frequently affected. Hyperpigmentation, varicose or spider veins (telangiectasia), and serious sensitivity to sunlight are common, even in individuals without XP-CS. Often patients with Cockayne Syndrome will severely burn or blister with very little exposure.

The eyes of patients can be affected in various ways and eye abnormalities are common in CS. Cataracts and cloudiness of the cornea (corneal opacity) are common. The loss of and damage to nerves of the optic nerve, causing optic atrophy can occur. Nystagmus, or involuntary eye movement, and pupils that fail to dilate demonstrate a loss of control of voluntary and involuntary muscle movement. A salt and pepper retinal pigmentation is also a visible symptom.

Diagnosis is determined by a specific test for DNA repair, which measures the recovery of RNA after exposure to UV radiation. Despite being associated with genes involved in nucleotide excision repair (NER), unlike xeroderma pigmentosum, CS is not associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Features of TTD can include photosensitivity, icthyosis, brittle hair and nails, intellectual impairment, decreased fertility and short stature. The acronyms PIBIDS, IBIDS, BIDS and PBIDS give the initials of the words involved. BIDS syndrome, also called Amish brittle hair brain syndrome and hair-brain syndrome, is an autosomal recessive inherited disease. It is nonphotosensitive. BIDS is characterized by brittle hair, intellectual impairment, decreased fertility, and short stature. There is a photosensitive syndrome, PBIDS.

BIDS is associated with the gene MPLKIP (TTDN1).

IBIDS syndrome, following the acronym from ichthyosis, brittle hair and nails, intellectual impairment and short stature, is the Tay syndrome or sulfur-deficient brittle hair syndrome, first described by Tay in 1971. (Chong Hai Tay was the Singaporean doctor who was the first doctor in South East Asia to have a disease named after him). Tay syndrome should not be confused with the Tay-Sachs disease. It is an autosomal recessive congenital disease. In some cases, it can be diagnosed prenatally. IBIDS syndrome is nonphotosensitive.

The photosensitive form is referred to as PIBIDS, and is associated with ERCC2 and ERCC3.

Along with the four aspects of the disorder that give it its name, there are also other common symptoms:

- A downward slant of the forehead

- Delayed bone maturation

- Mental retardation

The ocular abnormalities are generally retinal coloboma and nystagmus.

Progeria is an extremely rare genetic disorder in which symptoms resembling aspects of aging are manifested at a very early age. Progeria is one of several progeroid syndromes. Those born with progeria typically live to their mid-teens to early twenties. It is a genetic condition that occurs as a new mutation, and is rarely inherited, as carriers usually do not live to reproduce. Although the term progeria applies strictly speaking to all diseases characterized by premature aging symptoms, and is often used as such, it is often applied specifically in reference to Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS).

Progeria was first described in 1886 by Jonathan Hutchinson. It was also described independently in 1897 by Hastings Gilford. The condition was later named Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome. The word "progeria" comes from the Greek words "pro" (), meaning "before" or "premature", and "gēras" (), meaning "old age". Scientists are interested in progeria partly because it might reveal clues about the normal process of aging.

DNA repair defects are seen in nearly all of the diseases described as accelerated aging disease, in which various tissues, organs or systems of the human body age prematurely. Because the accelerated aging diseases display different aspects of aging, but never every aspect, they are often called segmental progerias by biogerontologists.

McKusick–Kaufman syndrome is a genetic condition associated with MKKS.

The condition is named for Dr. Robert L. Kaufman and Victor McKusick. It is sometimes known by the abbreviation MKS. In infancy it can be difficult to distinguish between MKS and the related Bardet–Biedl syndrome, as the more severe symptoms of the latter condition rarely materialise before adulthood.

AMS has been described by multiple authors and institutions, and various definitions have been adopted. According to Newton et al., a scoring system allotting one point per feature establishes AMS with scores greater than or equal to 3. The features include: 1) two or more clinically atypical nevi, 2) more than 100 nevi in patients between 20 and 50 years of age, 3) more than 50 nevi in patients under 20 years of age or more than 50 years of age, 4) more than one nevus in buttocks or instep, 5) nevi on the anterior scalp, 6) one or more pigmented lesions in the iris.

The Classical (1990) definition uses the following criteria: 1) 100 or more melanocytic nevi, 2) one or more melanocytic nevi greater than or equal to 8mm in its largest diameter, and 3) one or more clinically atypical melanocytic nevi.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus 1992 definition, which is still controversial, requires a family history of melanoma, in addition to a large number of melanocytic nevi (often greater than 50) and melanocytic nevi that present certain histological features.

Progeroid syndromes (PS) are a group of rare genetic disorders which mimic physiological aging, making affected individuals appear to be older than they are. The term "progeroid syndrome" does not necessarily imply progeria (Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome), which is a specific type of progeroid syndrome.

"Progeroid" means "resembling premature aging", a definition that can apply to a broad range of diseases. Familial Alzheimer's disease and familial Parkinson's disease are two well-known accelerated-aging diseases that are more frequent in older individuals. They affect only one tissue and can be classified as unimodal progeroid syndromes. Segmental progeria, which is more frequently associated with the term "progeroid syndrome", tends to affect multiple or all tissues while causing affected individuals to exhibit only some of the features associated with aging.

All disorders within this group are thought to be monogenic, meaning they arise from mutations of a single gene. Most known PS are due to genetic mutations that lead to either defects in the DNA repair mechanism or defects in lamin A/C.

Examples of PS include Werner syndrome (WS), Bloom syndrome (BS), Rothmund–Thomson syndrome (RTS), Cockayne syndrome (CS), xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), trichothiodystrophy (TTD), combined xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne syndrome (XP-CS), restrictive dermopathy (RD), and Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). Individuals with these disorders tend to have a reduced lifespan. Progeroid syndromes have been widely studied in the fields of aging, regeneration, stem cells, and cancer. The most widely studied of the progeroid syndromes are Werner syndrome and Hutchinson–Gilford progeria, as they are seen to most resemble natural aging.

Hawkinsinuria, also called 4-Alpha-hydroxyphenylpyruvate hydroxylase deficiency, is an autosomal dominant metabolic disorder affecting the metabolism of tyrosine. Normally, the breakdown of the amino acid tyrosine involves the conversion of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate to homogentisate by 4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase. Complete deficiency of this enzyme would lead to tyrosinemia III. In rare cases, however, the enzyme is still able to produce the reactive intermediate 1,2-epoxyphenyl acetic acid, but is unable to convert this intermediate to homogentisate. The intermediate then spontaneously reacts with glutathione to form 2-L-cystein-S-yl-1,4-dihydroxy-cyclohex-5-en-1-yl acetic acid (hawkinsin).

Patients present with metabolic acidosis during the first year of life, which should be treated by a phenylalanine- and tyrosine-restricted diet. The tolerance toward these amino acids normalizes as the patients get older. Then only a chlorine-like smell of the urine indicates the presence of the condition, patients have a normal life and do not require treatment or a special diet.

The production of hawkinsin is the result of a gain-of-function mutation, inheritance of hawkinsinuria is therefore autosomal dominant (presence of a single mutated copy of the gene causes the condition). Most other inborn errors of metabolism are caused by loss-of-function mutations, and hence have recessive inheritance (condition occurs only if both copies are mutated).

MOMO syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder which belongs to the overgrowth syndromes and has been diagnosed in only six cases around the world, and occurs in 1 in 100 million births. The name is an acronym of the four primary aspects of the disorder: Macrosomia (excessive birth weight), Obesity, Macrocephaly (excessive head size) and Ocular abnormalities. It is unknown if it is a life-limiting condition. MOMO syndrome was first diagnosed in 1993 by Professor Célia Priszkulnik Koiffmann, a Brazilian researcher in the Genetic and Clinical Studies of neurodevelopmental disorders.

This syndrome's acronym is an intended pun. It refers to the traditionally tall and obese king of Carnivals, Momus—Rei Momo in Portuguese.