Is Red Hair A Mutation

The gene present in red hair is recessive.

Is red hair a mutation. Meaning that if you re a ginger term used with lots of love you have two variant copies of a gene called mc1r on each of your 16th. Most redheads have a gene. Red hair is a recessive genetic trait caused by a series of mutations in the melanocortin 1 receptor mc1r a gene located on chromosome 16.

In some areas such as great britain red hair occurs in as much as six percent of the population. In any given species the genetic makeup is uniform across a population. The genetics of red hair appear to be associated with the melanocortin 1 receptor mc1r which is found on chromosome 16.

Red hair is the result of a genetic variant that causes the body s skin cells and hair cells to produce more of one particular type of melanin and less of another. I think most people know that red hair is a recessive trait. Eighty percent of redheads have an mc1r gene variant.

Loss of mc1r function in other mammals results in red or yellow hair pigmentation. This also results in pale skin. Red hair in humans is associated with variant alleles of the alphamsh receptor gene mc1r.

Scientists have declared that red hair is a genetic mutation of sorts that occurs in less than three percent of the entire human population. Red hair is a beautiful genetic mutation. Both parents must be carriers of the mutated mc1r gene to be able to produce redhead offspring of which there is a 25 chance if they don t have red.

Consequently there are far more people carrying the mutation for red hair than people actually having red hair. The red color is caused by a series of mutations in the mc1r gene which transmits to the hair more pheomelanin. It is the rarest hair color among humans and is often associated with very fair skin light colored eyes.