It was once unexplained why European hair color varies so greatly, from black to blonde to even red. This article is about how scientists have discovered over 100 genes linked to European hair color. This article clearly explains that hair color is polygenic, which is a concept we discussed in class. A trait is polygenic when it is controlled by two or more genes, which causes them to be continuously variable. Here, we can see hair color is controlled by a plethora of genes throughout the genome that cause European hair to vary as much as it does. According to this article, the researchers who discovered these genes hope for their work to contribute to finding treatments for pigment disorders. They believe that some of the genes that they found affect hair color may also be associated with diseases such as Crohn’s disease and skin cancer. In other words, they believe that some genes that influence hair color are pleiotropic, which is a also a concept discussed in class. Pleiotropy is when a single gene affects several traits.
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