Hair colour of family members

Post Reply New Topic

Actually, there is a red hair gene, or rather, a mutation in the MC1R gene that causes red hair. This mutation also causes very fair skin and eyes and UV sensitivity.

The reason red hair is seen almost entirely in Caucasian populations is because this particular mutation was 'removed' in other ethnic populations over time, as those with darker skin tend to live in very hot, sunny climates, and those with the MC1R mutation would have a very difficult time surviving under such conditions, due to their UV sensitivity. In other words...evolution selected for those without that trait in places like Africa, but in places like Ireland/Germany/Etc, where red hair is common, the weather is mild, and no selection was ever made or needed against the gene for survival.

Ah, didn't know a gene was found.

However, I did know that red hair, light skin, freckles all tend to get bundled together. I didn't say that particular bundle was common around the world, just that the chemical to make hair the color "red" exists in almost everyone. So is this thread not really about hair color, but more about the red hair/fair skin/freckles sort of phenotype? I read it as just being about hair.

Only my aunt(on my dad's side) has red hair and one cousin once removed too, but his mom(dad's cousin) was adopted it wouldn't count for what the OP asked.

i have reddish hair not a true red but you can see the reddish tones in the sun and in the summer it gets more reddish.

on my dads side there is red hair in the family my grandmother had red hair (according to my dad by time i came around it wasnt red anymore. he also saide that most of her brothers and her sister had all varying degrees of red hair. my dad doesnt have red hair though but he has a few reddish pieces in his beird


oh and the ethnicity is Greek Romaniote

Some people believe that the gene that causes red hair may coexist with genes that cause autism and that both came from Neanderthals.. Interestingly enough red hair and left-handedness quite often occur together as well.

But yes, now you do see redheads among other races and the mutated gene itself has spread.

You need 2 copies of the gene to be a redhead but carrying one copy of the gene and other genes that may be associated with it wouldn't be a rariety all, it's the reason some biracial children have red hair. the African American parent carried the gene and may have come from a family who had no redheads for 100+ years.

Not necessarily. There are plenty of redheads with dark eyes around.



Do you have the link to this research, by any chance?
I'm a redheaded lefty (or southpaw ginger, take your pick) and it sounds very interesting!

My hair is very dark brown with red undertones (if I bleach it, it goes red, not blonde - I bleached my fringe/bangs once). Although I'm quite sallow skinned, I also have a lot of freckles on top. My Dad had red hair when he was a boy, but it had darkened to dark brown by the time he was an adult. My Mum had black hair, before it turned white. She had 2 brothers and a sister with red hair and her Mum was a strawberry blonde. A couple of my cousins on my Mum's side have red hair and one of them has 2 red haired children. One of them is the fair skinned, pale eyed kind that we normally see in Scotland. The other has coppery auburn hair, sallow skin (tans well) and brown eyes.

This is approximately what I've read about the genetics of hair color: both red and black are "mixing", that is, several genes for each, so a lot of black is shiny blue-black, and just a little black is one of the shades of brown. If you inherit a lot of both, you don't see the red show up, because the black is darker and covers it. If you inherit a lot of red and no black, you'll be a bright redhead. Lack of either sort of gene gets you a natural "platinum blonde". So there's the question of "Just how red is red?" and I didn't answer the poll for that reason. Before my hair went gray, it was dark brown with red lights. My father gave me a pet name, "Aaron", after my "red-haired grandfather". Actually I suspect that the "temper tantrums" that he called me that for were "meltdowns" but we didn't have that word then, and my grandfather Aaron was my great-grandfather: but I never met him, so I don't know just how red his hair was. My mother (Aaron's granddaughter) was what she called "dishwater blonde" which had some red in it, but so mixed up it just looked muddy. Some of her siblings had "sandy" hair, with red and blonde, but not even enough red to call it "strawberry blonde". So I couldn't find any proper choice. My daughter had a lot of red lights when she was younger, but her hair has gotten darker over the years, and it just adds a "richness" to her dark hair. You'd never really have called it red, except that one day at a gathering, I said to the woman next to me, "That's my daughter over there", and she asked "The redhead?". Well, my kid was the only one who even came anywhere close to fitting the description, but I'd never thought of her hair as red, so it startled me.

I'm a diagnosed Aspie, my daughter is definitely NT.

I'm have aspergers and I do not know of any red hair in my family.

You're right, of course, about there being red heads with brown or dark eyes, and I suspect that certain genetic aspects override others. If both of your parents have brown eyes, you're most likely going to have brown eyes. However, as in my case, both of my parents have hazel eyes, and I have blue. I'm the only blue-eyed person in my family. They both also tan very easily, but I have a casper-like complexion and burn badly in the sun.

Also, I could be wrong, but I believe that MC1R is not the only determinant of red hair, but the predominant one. Those with the gene mutation are more likely to have the UV sensitivity, fair skin and eyes, and interestingly, a combined lower tolerance to pain and higher resistance to anesthesia. Since they have to give me six shots of novocaine per tooth at the dentist, I imagine that I fit this bill quite well.

The mutation is also responsible for the rumors that 'gingers' with eventually become extinct, because those most likely to carry the mutation are marrying outside of their geographic area, and people believe that this will eventually breed the mutation out. This seems like nonsense to me, as a family could carry the MC1R gene and not have it show up for several generations, and then have it suddenly appear. Sounds like junk science.

This thread is about hair color, but I was pointing out that you were referencing the fact that we all have some combination of the two types of pigments that, when exisiting exclusively, lead to either red or black hair, when that certainly doesn't mean that we all have red hair. Pheomelanin may exist in most people's hair, but it has to exist without Eumelanin in order for it to be considered red hair.

It's unlikely for the gene mutation of MC1R to be present in those who are not caucasian (though certainly possible), so that's why it was said that red hair is more or less exclusive to the caucasian population.

I do not know of any red hair in my family.

I have a red beard brown head hair

Have one first cousin with red hair, and he's considered a sport on the family tree for that. No one else on the family tree that I know of, and we are all of the Caucasian persuasion ( not thats good or bad but even in all european descent family we only have one red head).

It wasnt untll I joined the local autistic/asperger's support group and went to their meetigs that I ever saw large numbers of people on the spectrum whom I knew were on the spectrum.

There is one person I can recall seeing, but only one out of the couple dozen at the meetings, who is a red head: a college guy with a cute brunette girlfriend who is also on the spectrum.

Though I did end up being a temporary penpal of sorts ( we were both on another aspie website and got into a debate) with an aspie woman in England who also said she was a red head- so that makes two -but only two- red haired people on the spectrum whom Ive known personally.

Ive heard that "red isnt really a hair color. Its really the ABSENCE of hair color"(kinda what fragileclover is saying). Everyone has red pigment in their hair. But there is a small number of oddballs who lack all other pigments (black blonde etc) that mask the red in the rest of the human race and these are the few who are visibly redhead.

Neanderthal Theory is what hypothesizes that autistics come from Neanderthals but scientists actually have determined that red hair came from them.

I only find tidbits online about redheads more often being lefthanded but it is true for them and for gay people from what I read O_O

also, 4 second degree redheads in my family and my hair has always been kind of auburn, more brown but getting more red with age o_O

I have red hair. Well, strawberry blond, but still...