Genetics of Hair Color

Abstract

Hair color is known to be a polygenetic trait that may involve inheritance of at least 4 different genes. A special pigment, melanin, gives hair its color. The melanin is produced by the specialized cells, melanocytes, which are found in the skin, hair and eyes. Melanocytes can produce a broad spectrum of melanin: from black-brown to red. Black-brown melanin is also called eumelanin and red melanin is called phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is made from a common amino acid, tyrosine, in the specialized enzymatic reaction. Phaeomelanin, on the other hand, contains iron granules, which give this pigment its red hue. Like with eye color genetics, darker pigment is dominant to lighter pigment. In addition, the genes for hair color have additive effect, which means that the more melanin-dense alleles are present, the darker the hair color.

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• Inheritance pattern for hair color
• Correlation between hair and eye color inheritance
• Changes of hair color over time
• Hair color and increased sensitivity to environmental stress

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