The genes linked to red hair (2024)

FAQs

The genes linked to red hair? ›

Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.

A gene called MC1R plays a role in whether someone will have red hair. People who have certain variants in this gene are more likely to have red hair because they have higher levels of pheomelanin.

If one parent has red hair and the other is a carrier, there is a 50% chance that a child will inherit red hair, and two non-redheads carrying the recessive gene have a 25% chance of having a child with red hair.

The one that takes precedent is the dominant gene. Red hair is a recessive gene, so your husband has two red hair genes. The only way for your child to have red hair is if you have a recessive red gene (being covered by the dominant brown hair gene) and that is the gene that gets passed onto the baby.

So what does that all mean for your chances of having a red-headed child? Since you need two pieces of “red hair” DNA to have red hair, your child will only have red hair if they receive “red hair” DNA from both parents. Even if you don't have red hair, you can still pass on a red hair allele to your child!

The term "redhead" has been in use since at least 1510, while the term "ginger" is sometimes used, especially in Britain and Ireland, to describe a person with red hair. The origin of red hair can be traced to Central Asia, caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene.

Red is the rarest hair color, but to understand why that's the case, you need a basic grasp of the science. There's a lot more to it than the simple traits we learned about in high school biology.

The MC1R (or melanocortin 1 receptor) gene determines hair, skin and eye color. If you're a redhead, your MC1R gene has a mutation—or possibly several. It's why redheads are so rare. And if you have red hair and blue eyes, the rarest hair and eye color combination, the genetic stars were in alignment.

Redheads are less susceptible to certain pain

"Our tests showed that redheads are less sensitive to a particular type of pain: skin pain," said Professor Lars Arendt-Nielsen, lead researcher on the Aalborg University study. "They react less to pressure close to the injected area, or to a pinprick.

This gene has several versions (alleles), one of which is related to red hair. Red hair is a recessive trait, which means that only those who get two “redhead” versions of the gene, one from the mother and one from the father, will have red hair.

Do redheads go GREY? ›

Though there is a myth that redheads don't go grey, Bain says it isn't true. “There is, however, lots of evidence to show that redheads retain their pigment a lot longer than people with other natural colours such as brunettes and blondes,” she explains.

Red hair has long been associated with Celtic people. Both the ancient Greeks and Romans described the Celts as redheads. The Romans extended the description to Germanic people, at least those they most frequently encountered in southern and western Germany. It still holds true today.

About 17% of the world's population has blue eyes, and an estimated 1-2% of people worldwide are said to have red hair. This means that the odds of having both red hair and blue eyes are around 0.17%, Mark Elgar, Ph. D., an evolutionary biology professor at the University of Melbourne, said in 2018.

Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad.

Both parents must possess the gene for a red-haired child to be born. Redheads have fewer strands of hair on their heads. If they both just have the gene but have brown hair lets say then there is a 1 in 4 chance of having a baby with red hair.

Some people also carry a genetic marker for freckles, but don't have brown spots. For example, one gene, MC1R, is tied to both freckles and red hair. If both copies of the gene have the same genetic variant, then you're a redhead. If only one copy has the variant, then you'll get freckles—but not always.

The gene for blond hair is slightly more dominant than the gene for red hair, so if you have a gene for blond and one for red hair, you're hair will probably be in between blond and red, but slightly closer to blond than red.

Most redheads have a gene mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R). When MC1R is inactivated, the body produces more pheomelanin, which is responsible for reddish skin and hair tones, than eumelanin, which is responsible for shades of brown and black.

The MC1R gene provides instructions for making a protein called the melanocortin 1 receptor. This receptor plays an important role in normal pigmentation.

We all have the gene that is linked most strongly to red hair, MC1R. It is just that most red haired people have different versions of this gene compared to people without red hair.