Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Redheads will soon be almost non-existent

Some reports say that they'll actually go extinct by 2100 or earlier, but thats stretching it. Since the redhead gene isn't going anywhere, rather just getting diluted in the gene pool, there will always be the chance of a redhead popping up. At one time it was an advantage to be a redhead, since red hair is caused by the lack of the eumelanin (brown or black) pigment in the hair and skin. Fair skin allows more sunlight to enter the body stimulating the production of disease fighting vitamin D. Of course these days we get enough Vitamin D and fair skin is only good for goths and getting a nasty sunburn.

Rees, Johnathan. "The Roots of Red Hair." The Human Genome. 4 Feb. 2003. University of Edinburgh. 18 Mar. 2008 genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD020874.html

Marticke, Simone. "Ask a Genetist." Understanding Genetics. Stanford University. 18 Mar. 2008 http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=144

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