#mc1r gene

[saintxgerard]

Some unbelievable revelations are occurring…

[harpalion]

it says a lot about me that my idea of fun is writing 10k words about the reproductive systems of my aliens. it says even more about me that my other idea of fun is plotting out their color genetics down to the locus and every single possible color mutation and all methods of inheritance. melanocortin 1 receptor u will always be famous

[battle-subway-ghost]

again

oh fuuuckkkkkk. oh dammit oh arc. wghats happening to me,

[sins-of-the-sea]

".......Do you think Abena's sedation command wasn't effective on Phoebus the first try around because he's a redhead?"

"What does being a redhead have to do wi-

"Wait......

"ABENA!!"

"No, you silly nillies. My gift is centered around controls of souls and the mind, not the body. The body is Phoebus' domain as our healer and insta-death killer.

"Although......

"Would you two like to be a part of an experiment? We'll even have proper control and experimental groups. I'll even create a hypo-"

"Save your stamina, Abena. Soul and mind control means connecting yours."

"Killjoys."

[doctor-fancy-pants]

Wednesday Words

Good Things Can Come From Mistakes #1

Cell division is a glorious, microscopic ballet.

A dancer’s silhouette is revealed from an artful smoke machine; so too does our genetic material coalesce from the organised chaos of the nucleus into chromosomes.

Diligently, they twin themselves, then separate, pulled to opposite ends of the stage; and then the stage itself splits in two, and you don’t see that shit in Swan Lake.

But the most miraculous part of all this is how much it gets fucked up and you still end up with a human being at the end of it.

Only now you’ve got red hair. You’re welcome.

Good Things Can Come From Mistakes #2

A weed is any plant that grows where you don’t want it to grow. It’s a context-specific term. A mistake is to do something when you intended something else.

An error is a computer telling you to go fuck yourself, because you’re speaking gibberish (as far as the computer is concerned).

What do you get when you combine these things?

Well, I got a sarcastic cyborg plant person, and after 50 magical years of marriage, I don’t regret a single thing.

I have a Wednesday night writing group. We do prompts, and drabbles, and it's a good time. Everyone comes out with something so different! They're short snippets - the drabbles are only supposed to be 100 words (eventually I got there!), a warm-up for the later prompt. I've decided to post my favourites, because why not? This one was more recent, and I got two in the time limit that I liked.

[snigepippi]

I'm looking forward to when we can get more personalised medication where they look into our genes and figure out which will work best.

I'm considering printing out the scientific papers showing that NSAIDs have little to no pain relief effect on people who have no functional MC1R gene, so I can underline the relevant conclusions and hand it to health care people whenever they suggest paracetamol/acetaminophen. If they ask me if I'm sure I don't have any MC1 receptors, I can roll my eyes and point to my hair.

Paracetamol mainly acts by reducing the transformation of arachidonic acid freed due to tissue damage into pain signals that activate the nerve receptors. If there is no pain signals from damaged tissue involved in the pain, it doesn't do shit. And it cannot pass the blood/brain barrier so it has no effect in the brain. Studies also show paracetamol do little for bone or joint pain, for that you need ibuprofen or naproxen for joints, while it works on muscle pain. If it clears your headache it's like because the headache was from musche tension. I do not understand why doctors love it so much. It's a very specific pain killer for muscle pain and muscle tension, and nothing else.

It’s really funny when I Google meds to see how other people react, because I did that the other night, wondering how other migraine sufferers reacted to compazine and Reddit was full of people saying it was the worst experience of their life and they’d rather die than take it again and I was like, “Oh. I felt fucking great lmao.”

Point is, we all react differently to things. Especially when you’re a weird mast cell disorder bitch like me.

Like the number of people who tell me they get sleepy from antihistamines and I’m taking 4x the daily recommended dose (as prescribed by my doctor) and it just makes me feel awake.

Bodies are wild.

[amber-tortoiseshell]

What’s mc1r and what do mutations there do?

Mc1r is short for melanocortin 1 receptor, a very important gene/protein in pigment synthesis. In color genetics, it's often called extension gene, too.

The molecule itself basically behaves as a switch: it determines if the cell produces eumelanin (black/brown pigment) or pheomelanin (red/yellow pigment) at any given moment.

In all kind of animals, lots of red, orange, yellow and pale color variants are associated with loss-of-function MC1R mutations, and, on the other hand, melanistic colorations are often caused by gain-of-function mutations. The OMIA database contains documented mutations in 48 different animals, lots of them with several different alleles.

Clown ball phyton, menil fallow deer, blond antartic fur seal, chestnut horse, white camel, red zebu - these are all MC1R-mutants.

Domestic cats however... well, they do have no less but three mutations on this gene, but the standard, wildspread orange that gives us red and tortoiseshell cats is none of them. (That would be on the recently identified Arhgap36 gene, famously sex-linked, unlike MC1R, which is autosomal and inherited independently of sex.) The mc1r cat colors are all relatively new and restricted to one respective breed; they are called amber, russet and carnelian.

Amber tabby norwegian forest cat, (likely solid) russet sepia burmese and carnelian tabby kurilian bobtail.

For further information see my extension tag.

[nadinescholtes]

This is how Laia would look like as a human, maybe?

I was thinking of her as a chubby Latin American with red hair (MC1R gene). She would still love to eat candy and pastries. And likes to wear comfy clothes with pastel colors.

[kywaslost]

Good day! Could you make a Ciel x reader where the Ciel has a crush on the reader who is Lizzy’s sister (for the sake lest say Lizzy and Ciel ended to engagement) the thing is the reader is the only one in the Midford family to have dark hair (from a grandparent) and she gets very insecure about it, feeling like a black sheep in her family. Lizzy and everyone is very kind to her it’s just she constantly feels left out because she has a very different personality compared to her sister and brother. She feels very out of place during photo’s with her family. And especially during parties when people talk about her either being adopted or the cause of her mother being unfaithful. She just is naturally much more moody, and she doesn’t have as many friends unlike Lizzy because she just brings the mood down.

Sorry if it’s a lot, have a good day!

Odd One Out - Ciel Phantomhive

A/N: I decided to post this one a day early! I only have one class today and have a lot of free time at the moment. So sorry this took so long!

Not gonna lie, I had to do some research for this one. I’m a sucker for genetics, and so I got super excited for this one. Blonde hair is an autosomal recessive trait, meaning both parents have to be blond. Since both Midford parents are blonde, all of their children have to be blonde, that’s how I learned it. But I did some research to see if there’s mutations or something that can cause dark hair in children born from two blondes. I’ll try my best to simplify what I’ve found. 

Melanin is a polymer, and it is most often known as the polymer that gives skin, hair, and eyes its color. By what I can understand, there are two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Lots of eumelanin produces black or brown hair, whereas pheomelanin produces red hair. Blonde hair is produced by very little eumelanin. Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R) is responsible for determining hair color. Mutations in the MC1R gene can cause red or auburn hair. 

For the sake of this fanfic, let’s just say there’s a mutation in the reader’s production of eumelanin cause I can’t find any way for two blonds to produce a dark-haired kiddo. And yes, I know this is a fanfic but listen people my love for science is strong so fiction or not I’m gonna make my details as accurate as possible. Anyway, hope you enjoy, and here are my sources <3

You were the black sheep of the family in every way possible. Literal or not, others found great joy in pointing out every difference between you and your siblings, especially when it comes to your appearance. It’s difficult to explain to others why you bear little resemblance to your family. Sure, you had your mother’s build and your father’s eyes, but that was as far as it went. You didn’t have the same hair color as your parents and siblings.

It’s common knowledge that two blonde parents bear a blonde child, yet you had dark auburn hair. After years and years of torment and rumors of your mother being unfaithful, or that you were adopted, you began researching why you were the way you were. There wasn’t much out there, but you did discover that you had some type of genetic mutation dealing with hair color. That’s why it was so difficult to explain to others why your hair was so different from your family’s, they didn’t have the same extent of knowledge as you did. 

It didn’t help that you were also extremely different personality wise. Your sister Lizzy was very outgoing and extroverted, never hesitating to host parties or to meet new people. Your brother Edward, on the other hand, was very stoic and serious. He didn’t tolerate much of anything, and was very protective over you and your sister. But you weren’t much like your siblings. You often kept to yourself, only spoke when spoken to, and were generally just very independent. Growing up, the only real friends you had were your siblings, and your twin cousins.

Now that you’re older, you are even more independent. You spent less and less time with your family, often opting to stay in your room or going off on your own into the city. Your family constantly tried to get you to go to events with them, such as going to balls, parties, and even things as simple as family outings, but you couldn’t help but feel out of place. People constantly stared at you, and you couldn’t help but notice their hushed whispers as you walked by with your family. 

You were grateful that your family didn’t see you the same way the rest of the world did. Your parents treated you no differently than your sister and brother. If anything, they tried their hardest with you to try and make you feel more comfortable and confident in yourself. Lizzy constantly wanted to be with you, doing your hair and makeup to spend some quality time with you. She took you dress shopping, and tried to cheer you up in that sort of way. 

Because of your discomfort around your family, you often spent a lot of time with your cousin Ciel. His servants never treated you any differently than they did the rest of your family, and the boy’s Estate overall felt like a safe place for you. Ciel was always willing to let you vent to him, whether it be about how people had been treating you or how you were thinking of yourself, he always had advice to offer. 

What he never would confess, however, was his feelings for you. His engagement with Lizzy ended just over a year ago, and it was all because he realized he had feelings for you instead. Watching you change throughout the years broke his heart, how you became more independent and less willing to socialize and go out. 

You were staying a few nights at the manor to spend some time with Ciel. You had been having a particularly hard time, and you thought it best to spend some time with the boy. He greeted you with open arms, and immediately ordered Sebastian to prepare your favorite meal for dinner. You fell into your cousin’s arms, tearing up as he held you tightly. 

“May I ask what brings you here?” CIel asks calmly as he hugs you. He can feel your tears soaking into his shirt and he becomes even more worried. 

You sniffed as you pulled away from Ciel, wiping at your eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s just been a really long week.”

Ciel frowned, gently taking your arm and leading you inside. “Come, tell me about it.” You were led inside the Estate and to the sofa beside the fireplace. Ciel draped a light blanket over your shoulders as he sat beside you. Taking your hand in his, his blue eye met your E/C ones. “What happened?”

You began to cry harder as you recalled the events of the past week. Ciel listened as you told him about the hushed whispers and not-so-hidden stares followed your every move at a ball you attended with your family. Then how you stepped out of your comfort zone to speak to girls your own age at said ball, and how they giggled to each other as they ignored you and walked away.

Ciel wrapped you tightly in a hug, pulling you so your legs are draped over his lap and your face is buried in his shoulder. “Look at this,” you sniffle, reaching for your bag at the end of the couch. Ciel released you from his arms as you dug through your bag, pulling out a photo. You replaced yourself on CIel’s lap, handing him the photo. His warm hands brushed against your own as he took the image.

“This is a lovely photo,” he smiled softly. It was a printed image of the most recent family photo taken three days ago. Your father held your mother’s waist, Edward on his other side and Lizzy standing beside your mom. You were beside your sister. Ciel was right, it was a lovely photo. But the longer he looked at it, he noticed everyone’s bright smiles, and then you. It looked as if you were near tears, barely able to hold your smile long enough to take the photo.

“Honey,” Ciel coos quietly. This was very uncharacteristic of the Earl. He never showed this much empathy and emotion towards someone before.

“I hate this photo,” you cried as you rested your head on his shoulder once again.

“Why?”

“I look so out of place!” You pointed to yourself in the picture. “I hate that I was born this way! Why did I have to have this mutation?”

Ciel set the picture aside, wrapping you in his arms again and running a hand down your back. “I think you’re beautiful,” his voice was soft as he whispered in your ear. “Genetic mutation or not, I love the way you look, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.” CIel continued to hold you until you fell asleep in his arms. As he carried you to your designated room, he whispered to you. 

“I don’t understand why others treat you this way, and I wish they would stop just as much as you do. But I love you, Y/N, and I would give everything to have you in my life. Genetic mutation or not, you are beautiful just the way you are.”

[dropthedemiurge]

It somehow came up but I just found out that the red-haired people have a mutated gene MC1R which turns their hair red, their skin whiter and – increased pain sensitivity, as well as more difficult reception of anesthesia.

And I immediately thought of – oh my gosh, Neil Josten. A born red-head. The non-stop torture throughout his whole life was not enough, he also felt everything stronger than normal people, goddamit. No wonder he would not remember his time in the Nest or childhood details well, the pain kicking him out of conscience. (The opposite of Andrew who remembers his every trauma but chose to disassociate and mediate himself to numbness).

More painful headcanons for AFTG... =))

In the early 2000s, it turned out that redheads actually have a number of very unpleasant features for doctors. Firstly, they have a low pain threshold (that is, they feel pain more strongly). Secondly, the usual doses of painkillers and anesthetics are like grain to an elephant. The cause is a mutation in the MC1R gene. In blondes, brunettes and brown-haired people, it is responsible for the production of the receptor that responds to melanocortin-1 and for the production of melanin. In redheads, the gene has mutated and stimulates the production of another substance - pheomelanin (dyes the hair red and makes the skin lighter). In this case, pheomelanin turns on pain receptors in the brain, which explains the increased sensitivity. Anesthesia and analgesics affect redheads every once in a while. Therefore the anesthesiologist need to add more, and dentists must use very strong painkillers.

[hyperfixation-fix]

Headcanon that a lot of the black children of Apollo have the MC1R gene (the gene responsible for red hair and freckles), like from the photo series MC1R by Michelle Marshall.

(PS - I tried to find a variety of skin tones, but it's really hard to find photos of natural red hair/freckles in races besides white, outside of this photo series. I hope the idea is still enjoyable and you can imagine this applied to a broader range of ethnicities. I'm a (white) redhead and I think the MC1R gene is just stunning in all its iterations - I just wish there were more photos or something even just awareness of it🫠)

[lonesurvivorao3]

Eris Shepard: Sixteen, or thereabouts

Eris Shepard, Sixteen, or thereabouts:

In a species with a depleted genome range, her genetic code more resembled a script for a play, open to various inferences and offered few definitive conclusions; the single copy of the MC1R gene that should not result in the phenotypic presentation of autumnal auburn hair being the least of it.

He entered the cell alone, becoming acutely aware of whimpering from under the bed at the far side, a result of their hideous efforts to induce her biotic ability. Watching him lock the door and start disconnecting all recording devices, she supposed this was the part where the ‘unsanctioned’ state torture started.

The detached gaze of the scrawny, mucky faced child came into view as Anderson, keeping a safe distance away, lay on the cold concrete floor. On his way in, the psychiatrist cautioned him that her commitment to being evasive and bullish was outstanding, but he was in no danger as they’d successfully neutralised her. But he saw only a forlorn, grief-stricken little girl who had been alone for far too long. Two decades later, that haze lingered. “You need to start talking, kid, or you’ll be here for quite some time.”

Having fabricated everything about herself in each new location over the past few years, deception came as easily as breathing, but she doubted he would believe any of her stories. The inexplicable urge to respond, at least partially, to his questions, rose again. Certainly not everything, perhaps very little, only just enough, yet whenever she tried to speak, her mouth felt filled with the fuzzy static of old televisions.

A dangerous compulsion, and instead, she decided now was the optimal time to find a fulcrum on which to place her lever. “A rather more accurate name for Cerberus would be Hydra.”

[vampkomori]

wondering if childe being designed with red hair was researched and has a deeper meaning bc theres a bunch of stuff that makes a weird amount of sense. for him to have red hair specifically.

red hair is basically a mutation (mc1r gene) and it affects a bunch of different stuff, not just hair color, but also vitamin production and pain receptors

redheads in particular produce their own vitamin D so historically people with that hair color moved more towards colder climates bc they could retain heat better and thus could withstand the cold more. bc of their vitamin D production they also had stronger bones than people who didnt have red hair so its theorized that in colder climates redheads were having more children than non-redheads bc the latter just had brittler bones and had a rough time in the cold (the video i watched abt it also made a joke abt how redheads would thrive "underground" more than in the sun and well. funny that). also apparently some redheads need 20% more anesthesia than non-redheads bc they can have a higher pain tolerance

so its interesting that childe, known redhead, lives in a cold climate (snezhnaya) has a lot of siblings, and survived the abyss (makes his own vitamin D, has Stronger Bones, possibly high pain tolerance) its kind of hilarious? are u telling me him having red hair is deep. i love that

[emeraldvsociety]

Hey y’all, I wanted to address a pet peeve of mine when it comes to the Korkie Kenobi theory discourse. Now, first off, I want to say that I legitimately do not care if you hate it or love it. I understand that this is a very polarizing theory in the Obitine and in the SW community as a whole. It definitely has serious implications on Satine’s, Obi-Wan’s, and Bo’s characters, and even on Mandalorian culture as a whole. There are valid reasons to like it. There are valid reasons to hate it. There are valid reasons to only think it’s a mildly funny animation bit. 

I am not trying to patronize anyone in this post because this information is not likely common knowledge... but I need to talk about it because it drives me CRAZY whenever people argue against the theory by saying: 

“Korkie having red hair is not proof that Obi-Wan is his father. Bo-Katan [his aunt] has red hair, so red hair just runs in the Kryze family.” 

Now, before I really start ranting, I would like to say that I am NOT a geneticist in the slightest, and if a geneticist or someone with a stronger biology background wants to correct me on anything, go ahead. 

Red hair is the product of a mutated recessive variant of the MC1R gene. 

Quick genetic breakdown of hair color: hair color is determined by the abundance (or lack) of melanin. Hair has two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. An abundance of eumelanin causes darker hair and a lack of results in lighter (more blond) hair. Pheomelanin is red/pink, and the more you have, the redder your hair will be.  

Red hair is a recessive trait. This is why red hair is so rare. In order for the gene to be expressed, no dominant gene MC1R can be inherited. If you are a redhead and your partner is a redhead, there is a 100%* guarantee that your children will also have red hair. Red hair can also be CARRIED. If you are a redhead and your partner is a carrier, there is a 50%* chance your child will be a redhead. If you are BOTH carriers, there is a 25%* chance of your child will be a redhead.

Here is a Punnett square for visual reference:

We do not have any canon images of the Kryze sisters’ parents, but given Bo-Katan and Satine’s hair, we know that they were either: 

Rr & Rr - resulting in an rr offspring (Bo) and an RR or Rr offspring (Satine) 

Rr & rr - resulting in an rr offspring (Bo) and an Rr offspring (Satine) 

Even in the instance where both parents are carriers, Satine still has a 50% of being a carrier as opposed to the 25% chance of not. (If Bo and Satine have a sibling, and they aren't a redhead, they'd share the same odds as Satine).

Red hair is absolutely a Kryze trait, whether the allele is carried or expressed. I understand why people make the false assumption that Bo-Katan's red hair proves that Kryze's just *have* red hair sometimes. In most cases, that's sometimes how genetics work! Sometimes one side of the genes, maternal or paternal, has more influence on the offspring. You can see this in Luke and Leia. Leia got Padmé's brown and curly hair, and Luke was born with blond hair and blue eyes like Anakin.

But this is not the case with Korkie or ANYONE with red hair. A half of the genes (maternal or paternal) CANNOT be solely responsible for a child’s red hair. BOTH parents must carry or express the variant of MC1R. 

Meaning, Korkie’s parents would HAVE to be either Rr/Rr, Rr/rr, or rr/rr. We know what Obi-Wan is, and we know what Satine (likely) is… 

Now, does this prove the Korkie Kenobi theory? No. But, please, I beg you, stop implying that Bo-Katan’s red hair “disproves” the theory. If anything, it enhances it. If Obi-Wan had a child with someone who has RR hair there would be a ZERO percent chance of that child having red hair. Now, if he had a child with a carrier (which Satine likely is due to her sister having red hair), there would be a FIFTY percent chance that child would be a redhead. 

I understand some people think that Bo and Satine are half-siblings, but in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t matter in this argument. Bo is still Korkie’s aunt (or half-aunt), and they are still both rr, meaning that they (likely) share the common ancestor that was Rr or rr. 

If I’ve gotten something astronomically & seriously wrong, please feel free to reblog with the correct information. It’s never my intention to spread misinformation. 

Also sorry if someone has made a post like this in the past. I’m new around these parts. 

*In rare cases, even if someone has inherited two variants of MC1R, they will not have red hair.

[hislittleraincloud]

The Galpin residence, Tyler’s room, 2:00 A.M. Thursday 

Donovan stared at his sleeping son in his lamplit bedroom. Tyler had been more consoled sleeping with a light on ever since he was six years old and suddenly developed an intense fear of the dark that couldn't be cured by a mere night light. For twelve years the kid’s been adding to my energy bills all because of….

He blinked as he watched Tyler’s shoulder rise and fall in sync with the sound of his deep breathing. The curls on the back of his head were getting darker, more like how his own head hair was darker when he was young (and because Donovan possessed that one mutated copy of the MC1R gene, his beard hairs were always redder than his dark brown scalp hair, which might have accounted for Tyler’s hair having a more coppery tone when he was much younger). But overall, Tyler took after his mother.

“Overall”.

Understatement of the year.

Donovan remembered the photographs of his Hyde. There were more than a few, but it was the one of the back of its head that he was recollecting, the smooth curls having transformed into wiry, steel wool-like patches stretched over a monstrously deformed skull. He then thought of all the people—victims of his son—that had been murdered in the most violent of ways, all most surely aware of what was happening to them given their wounds. 

God, Val. Chunk in her neck…my hands, her eyes, they…n’ Addams��whiter than usual….

It was a creature that took pleasure in its kills, shredding bodies and consuming their parts like endless hot wings at a Superbowl party.

That's what that peacefully sleeping head did. Multiple times.

Donovan raised his gun, his hand steady at first; all he had to do was pull the trigger. Several times if need be. People who live up here go missing all the time. It’s no big deal. This is the humane way. Then the Thorpe kid can be released due to lack of real evidence, case…closed.

He looked through the sights at the perfect spot just at the base of his skull, but it was only then that it occurred to him that his gun going off in the middle of the night might be loud enough to startle people awake. Fuck!  His hands trembled in their aim. He shook his head and took a deep breath, holding steady. Ah, fuck it—I’m the fuckin’ sheriff, I can set bombs off on my property if I fuckin’ want to. 

A sudden queasiness hit. He had already weighed his options; besides saving more people from being ripped apart, there was no way he would want to see his son suffer the same fate as his mother. He would be saving both normies and outcasts alike, especially Addams. He would surely rescind the deal with Larissa and she can come back to school. Surely that's how it would be. 

Surely.

Or would Wednesday’s selective sense of justice prevail? Would she want to know what happened to Tyler? Of course she would. She wants to know everything. She would wonder and then start pestering him about why his Hyde son suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth. Did you do something, Donovan? What did you do, Donovan? What did you do?

Her terrified, angry imagined hollering at him in his mind made his hands tremble even more, but he only realized it once a salty droplet of sweat trickled over his upper lip. He licked it away, tuned the imagined screaming in his brain into white noise, and began to steady his gun again when Tyler suddenly stirred, rolling a 180° onto his right side to face him. He was awake. He stared at his own covers for what seemed like forever and hadn't even brought his eyes up to Donovan as he stood, caught red-fingered on the trigger and paralyzed.

“You pissed yourself,” he mumbled, his words affected by his cheek pressed against his pillow.

Donovan snapped out of his terror to glance down at his pants; sure enough, the white noise in his head wasn't actually white, it was yellow, and it was a dark area of wetness that bled from a precise spot near his fly down his leg. 

Tyler blinked, his gaze creeping no higher than Donovan’s belt before he shifted under the covers, turning back around to oblige his father’s shot.

“Make it quick,” he sighed, his head tilting forward and his shoulder relaxing for the anticipated relief.

✨

[militarymenrbomb]

Ok, I'm going to try this again, facts about gingers. Less than 2 percent of the world’s population has red hair, making it the rarest hair color in the world. It’s the result of the mutated MC1R gene. If both parents carry that gene, their child has a 25% chance of getting lovely, red locks, even if the parents don’t have red hair themselves. Red hair will never turn grey. Instead, the pigment simply fades over time. Redheads usually end up with blonde or silvery white hair when they get older. Redheads have less hair on their heads. On average, someone with red hair has 90,000 strands of hair. Blonds have 110,000 strands of hair on average and brunettes have the most with 140,000 strands of hair. Being a man with red hair though could mean a lower risk for prostate cancer. A study from the British Journal of Cancer found men with naturally red hair were 54% less likely to develop prostate cancer, compared to other men with blond, brown or black hair.  Red hair isn’t the only thing that’s rare. A high portion of people who are left-handed are also redheads.

1. Red hair and blue eyes is the rarest combination in the world.

2. Redheads soak up more sun. It is because they usually have less melanin producing capacity in their skin and thus are more sun sensitive than are their dark haired counterparts, who usually have darker skin, more melanin, and therefore more sun protection capacity.

3. As reported by The Independent, the redhead gene could be on its way out because the gene is thought to be a response to cloudy weather in Scotland; something the country could see less and less of due to global warming. 

4. The Irish Central reported about a new US study at Penn State University. “They found out that Europeans’ light skin stems from a gene mutation from a single person who lived 10,000 years ago.

5. A redhead’s light skin is incredibly sensitive and can burn easily when in contact with lime juice. “I want to let people know about this type of burn because it is especially severe for people with fair skin, like redheads.” 

6. When the study by the Journal of the American Dental Association broke out in 2012 that redheads experience more pain at the dentist, many rumors began to develop: “Redheads have an extra (third) set of nerves in the mandible, which could explain why going to the dentist hurts more for women with natural red hair,” or “Redheads suffer more from toothaches.”

7. It has been proven that redheads need larger doses of anesthesia and are often resistant to local pain blockers like novocaine.

8. Natural redheads could be at greater risk of melanoma without sun exposure.

9. It is useful to know that if the red hair gene is in your family history, then even if you do not have red hair yourself, you do carry the gene.

10. Redheads bruise more!

11. Rocks those shades! A majority of redheads have light colored eyes, which has less pigment. This causes sensitivity to the sun’s harmful rays more than brown or black eyes. It’s very important that all redheads wear sunglasses to keep their eyes safe.