Comments on: SLC45A2/MATP & The Genetics Of Human Hair Color http://anthropology.net/2008/10/09/slc45a2matp-the-genetics-of-human-hair-color/ Beyond bones & stones Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:03:54 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Luis http://anthropology.net/2008/10/09/slc45a2matp-the-genetics-of-human-hair-color/#comment-12662 Luis Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:08:35 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=1547#comment-12662 It seems pretty obvious from the map that it's not a 1:1 correlation, otherwise all Britons, for instance would be blonde - and many are not. Inversely, I see no trace of this alelle in insular Melanesia, where blond hair is pretty common. But anyhow, what you say about L374 blocking the melanine makes sense to me (this from a very amateurish viewpoint, admittedly): it probably blocks it from being absorbed by other tissues and metabolized, L374 would make sure that the melanine remains in the melanocites, assuring a darker tone in skin and hair. 374F people instead probably just waste their melanine production. Maybe it was the system biology found to face lack of light in Northern Europe: not supressing melanine production but just throwing it away. Looks pretty ineffective but guess that evolution works sometimes by quite odd paths - maybe there is some good reason for this waste anyhow, like not producing melanine at all having other side effects (albinism?). Just a thought. It seems pretty obvious from the map that it’s not a 1:1 correlation, otherwise all Britons, for instance would be blonde – and many are not. Inversely, I see no trace of this alelle in insular Melanesia, where blond hair is pretty common.

But anyhow, what you say about L374 blocking the melanine makes sense to me (this from a very amateurish viewpoint, admittedly): it probably blocks it from being absorbed by other tissues and metabolized, L374 would make sure that the melanine remains in the melanocites, assuring a darker tone in skin and hair. 374F people instead probably just waste their melanine production. Maybe it was the system biology found to face lack of light in Northern Europe: not supressing melanine production but just throwing it away. Looks pretty ineffective but guess that evolution works sometimes by quite odd paths – maybe there is some good reason for this waste anyhow, like not producing melanine at all having other side effects (albinism?).

Just a thought.

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