Friday, May 9, 2014

What causes red hair?










Answer
The pigment pheomelanin gives red hair its distinctive color.
Red hair is associated with fair skin color because of low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body of those with red hair.This lower melanin-concentration confers the advantage that a sufficient concentration of important Vitamin D can be produced under low light conditions.
The genetics of red hair, appear to be associated with the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), which is found on chromosome 16.Red hair can originate from several different changes on the MC1R-gene. If one of these changes is present on both chromosomes then the respective individual is likely to have red hair. This type of inheritance is described as an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Even if both parents do not have red hair themselves, both can be carriers for the gene and have a redheaded child.

Red Hair genetics Question?




gwynn


So I have medium/dark brown hair. I have 2 sisters who are red hair, fair skinned. We have the same parents, my mom was blonde and my dad strawberry blonde. How did I get such dark hair?


Answer
The genetics behind red hair inheritance is a little different than the inheritance of other traits. With red hair a person can inherit the trait even if both parents do not exhibit the trait which is not entirely true in your case because your dad has strawberry blonde hair which is a variation of red headedness. Inheriting red hair is controlled by the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. Which essentially regulates the amounts of melanin in the body. This is why consequentially people with red hair tend to also have fair skin, freckles and a variety of other pigment related traits characteristic of people of irish, scandinavian or higher latitude populations and their decedents. In people with this gene they tend to have more of the pigment pheomelanin than do people with other hair colors who tend to have more eumelanin instead. Both of your parents are likely to be carriers of the MC1R gene but do not have read hair because the necessary mutations that need to occur on the chromosome haven't occurred. Since your mom is blonde it is most likely that you inherited your dark hair from your dad. A number of genes determine hair color and chances are you are a carrier of the gene for red hair as well.




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