Better Red Than Dead
According to a story in National Geographic, redheads are not long for this earth. Not individual redheads, of course: your eccentric aunt or hot girlfriend or the boy at camp who won't go canoeing because he burns will live a long and rewarding life. But redheads as a species are nearly through. The phenomenon, which began thousands of years ago in Europe, originally helped to increase the body's ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight. Now, though, the mutation has outlasted its usefulness and redheads may be extinct within a hundred years. Meanwhile, please enjoy this presentation by Professor Eric Cartman.
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Redheads Going Extinct?
Posted Aug 23rd 2007 1:11PM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Science, Bizarre
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Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 13)
46. I'm a "Daywalker"! Yay! Generations ago my ancestors were raped by vikings! (which is how the red-hair gene got to the british isles)
I quite enjoy having red-hair. I feel bad for the super-freckled kids like lindsey lohan...but having normal skin is nice
Miss at 7:23PM on Aug 26th 2007
47. I am a redhead from two brown-haired parents. My maternal grandmother had red hair. She had four children, none of which have red hair, but three of them have red-haired children. It totally skipped a generation, but came on very strong!
Kathleen at 10:12PM on Aug 26th 2007
48. I ain't going nowhere!!
Mine looks like 14k gold!
It has a lot of blond in it, and some dark auburn. In the summer it gets lighter.
It's big, thick and wild.
A lot of people say it looks like a lions mane!! (lol) I love my hair!
My daughters have blond hair with very little red. Their Dad had brown hair.
Sue at 11:11PM on Aug 26th 2007
49. #41 I am sorry...poor guy! :(
Sue at 11:12PM on Aug 26th 2007
50. As long as there's Miss Clairol, I know at least one redhead that will carry on!!
web jones at 11:46PM on Aug 26th 2007
51. wow. now I feel priveleged to have this weird copper/blonde/brown hair color that fits into the "red" catergory. very nice
Julia at 1:43AM on Aug 27th 2007
52. OK folks hears a little history 1#) couple of years ago this urban myth/rumor was making it's way around the net and even some "respected publications" repeated it. There was one minor difference ... it was/is blondes that are/were going extinct. If you google redheads you find a ton of sights repeating this article, and a few even have National Geographic in the address and look like they are part of National Geographic. However, if you act go to the official www.nationalgraphic.com site, you won't see one thing having to do with redheads and their imminent demise on the site.
2#) Red hair is a recessive treat so it very common for it skip generation(s). It's actually a little more involved than that. It entails pigment receptors, incomplete dominance relating to allele variants, maybe other genes on different chromosomes. (the juries still out)
3#) And finally, while it maybe true that only 1-3% of the total human population carries the requisite recessive gene(s), that doesn't apply to those of Celtic (and to a lesser extent) Teutonic descent. In Scotland 13% of the population has red hair and approx. 45% carries the gene(s). Ireland ranks 2nd with about 10% of the population redheads and 35% carriers. And while the "Vikings" Norsemen were known to have ginger hair, if you or a family member has red hair chances are slightly better that it came from the fair, beguiling, lass or colleen that captured the marauding Norseman's heart.
Shannon at 3:20PM on Aug 27th 2007
53. Balderdash.
Fred Staggs at 9:27AM on Aug 27th 2007
54. I have a 12 and 6 yr old son who have BRIGHT red hair,not the tomato color,more like fire.They have light skin but not that light.Both sport a great tan in the summer that lasts well into November.
My older sons 15 and 14 have great red highlights as do I,and in the town I live in we have many redheads so I really dont believe they will become extinct.What a stupid thing to waste time on,hair color.
tamie at 10:15AM on Aug 27th 2007
55. I am 6th generation red-headed and my niece is 7th. So far no 8th generation, but I think maybe a 9th generation may produce some beautiful red hair. My grandmother was 1/2 Cherokee with jet black hair, my grandfather was red headed (as was most of his family). They produced 5 children all of them red headed. Our family, cousins and all, is either red headed or have black hair, except 1 blue-eyed blond. She looks like her father's family not our side of the family.
Nan at 11:58AM on Aug 27th 2007
56. miss clarol in full effect,boooy!!!
suoires at 12:04PM on Aug 27th 2007
57. GOOD. I've always hated redheads. They're stupid, they smell, and those burning bushes revolt me.
Every time I see one of those freaks here in Dallas, I flip them off, right in their face.
Janet Buttimer at 6:06PM on Aug 27th 2007
58. My dad just loves the fact that my brother and I both have gorgeous redheads. They can't go anywhere without heads turning, and they both get it from him.
missblondi at 7:08PM on Aug 27th 2007
59. I guess I'm a "daywalker" now? heh. I've got the red hair, but that's pretty much it. I don't have super-pale skin (i actually tan in the sun... i think it's because my dad's quite a bit native american), and it's straight- refuses to curl! i've got some freckles, but they almost blend in with my skin.
i honestly doubt redheads are a "dying breed"... like the article said: the redhead gene could stay dormant for a while, then come back. that sounds likely :)
Sar at 9:15PM on Aug 27th 2007
60. I have brown hair brown eyes, my husband has blond hair, green eyes. My oldest daughter has strawberry blond hair, blue eyes. My middle daughter has blond hair, blue eyes. And then there's my baby. She has red hair, hazel eyes. Somewhere in my family tree and somewhere in my husbands family tree, there was a redhead. And we reaped the benefits cuz she's gorgeous. It's genes ppl!!! Until we're all made in test tubes, that's what decides what we look like. Not science.
Jenn at 9:41PM on Aug 27th 2007