Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Tribute to Redheads

Okay so I am clearly I am partial to redheads...being one of them but did you know:We Redheads make up 3% of the world's population? That makes Red hair the rarest natural hair color! Though commonly thought of in the United States as being an Irish trait, many redheads -- particularly those of us in Minnesota -- attribute their hair color to German, Scandinavian or English heritage. However, some of us just pretend we're Irish on St. Patrick's Day.Because the gene for red hair is recessive, having a red-headed child requires both parents to pass along a mutated version of the MC1R gene. Genetic carriers, therefore, aren't necessarily redheads, making generational gaps fairly common.Indeed, numerous reports and rumors have circulated declaring redheads a dying breed. Researchers generally agree, however, that while red hair may become increasingly rare because of intermingling among varying ethnic populations, the gene itself isn't going anywhere. So never fear we are not going anywhere...for now. :-)

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