Ginger and Spice

Happy Redhead Day!

Ok, I was born a toe-head blonde and lived most of my life as a caramel/honey blonde but my hair stylists have always told me I have a lot of red highlights amongst my blonde and as I've gotten older, my natural color has become more and more copper so I like to think of myself as slightly redheaded (my sister has much redder hair than I do - right). Right now, it meshes quit well with my pastel red and pastel pink highlights care of oVertone. 

​In honor of all the redheads out there, here are some fun genetic facts about red hair color:

​Red hair is most commonly caused by a series of mutations on the Melanocortin 1 Receptor gene, or MC1R.

Mutated versions of MC1R produce blonde or red hair (and freckles!), due to a lack of eumelanin. (They're also more prone to getting skin cancer so WEAR THAT SUNSCREEN!)

MC1R is found on chromosome 16 (location 16q24.3) and is 3,098 base pairs in length.

​It encodes a protein made of 317 amino acids.

8 mutations cause different shades of red depending on how many of the mutations you have (I probably have one of those "weak" versions - below).

​​It is a recessive inherited trait (meaning both parents have to contribute a copy of the mutated allele for you to have red hair).

The gene can be carried through generations before ever producing a redhead (therefore, more people carry the gene than express the gene and it's NOT going extinct).

Chart c/o Redheads: The Genetics of Hair Color from Owlcation.com

​Other genetic ways to get red hair:

Albinism in individuals who would have had dark hair without it.

Proopiomelanocortin deficiency, which skews the phaeomelanin:eumelanin ratio in cells resulting in red hair (among other things).

Worldwide, only 2% of the population has red hair. Red hair and blue eyes is the rares combination in the world at <1%.

• The highest concentration of redheads is in Scotland (13%; 40% are gene carriers!) followed by Ireland (10%). <- those are my people

Map c/o Eupedia's The genetic causes, ethnic origins and history of red hair

“Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall in love with a gorgeous redhead!”
– Lucille Ball