Gene Chart For Hair Color

Melanins are pigments derived from an amino acid called tyrosine.

Gene chart for hair color. Hair color is the pigmentation of hair follicles due to two types of melanin. Each trait consists of two alleles one from your mother and one from your father they may be the same or they may be different. An example is eye color.

If less eumelanin is present the hair is lighter. The color of the hair depends on the amount and type of melanin produced by melanocytes. The most common gene which controls the color of our hair is a brown blonde gene which consists of a dominant brown allele and a recessive blonde allele.

Non red hair colors such as blonde and brunette take precedence over red hair. A recessive gene only has an effect if both genes in a pair are recessive. Depending on how these genes combine the color of the hair will be different.

Contrary to internet rumors redheads are not going extinct. Levels of melanin can vary over time causing a person s hair color to change and it is possible to have hair follicles of more than one color on the same person. To understand how hair color works you will need to understand some basic genetics.

Genes come in pairs and each gene in a pair may differ slightly. Generally hair colors are classified into dark and light in which the former is. Hair color is primarily genetic and red hair is caused by mutations in the mc1r gene.

According to these genetic rules the color of the hair is the result of the combination of two pairs of genes coming from each of the two parents. The gene for red hair also causes an increased sensitivity to sunlight and a reduced sensitivity to anesthesia. During my time studying genetics at the university of california santa cruz and teaching genetics in the san francisco unified school district i have learned a great deal about genetic compositions and make up can have an impact.