Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.
Red hair is a recessive trait, which means that only those who get two “redhead” versions of the gene, one from the mother and one from the father, will have red hair.
Both parents must possess the gene for a red-haired child to be born. Redheads have fewer strands of hair on their heads. If they both just have the gene but have brown hair lets say then there is a 1 in 4 chance of having a baby with red hair.
Inheritance of red hair
MC1R is a recessive gene. This means that two copies (one inherited from each parent) are required for the trait to be observed. In this case, two copies of the variant are required for the child to be a redhead.
The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland. However, natural redheads may not exist for much longer.
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
One of the many facts about redheads is that their hair will never turn grey. The pigment in their hair that causes it to be red will just fade over time, causing their hair to turn blonde or white, but never grey.
Since you need two pieces of “red hair” DNA to have red hair, your child will only have red hair if they receive “red hair” DNA from both parents. Even if you don't have red hair, you can still pass on a red hair allele to your child!
Red hair is a recessive gene, so your husband has two red hair genes. The only way for your child to have red hair is if you have a recessive red gene (being covered by the dominant brown hair gene) and that is the gene that gets passed onto the baby.
In order to have red hair, a child has to get a red gene from each parent, or one red and one blond. Even if both parents are carrying red, or one is carrying red and one blond, each child only has a 25% chance of having red hair.
Strawberry blonde therefore belongs to the red hair group. 'Strawberry blonde is the lightest shade of red hair. Other tones in this color group include mahogany, copper and Irish red.
Most redheads have a gene mutation called MC1R. This type of gene must be carried by both parents in order for a child to potentially be born with red hair. Lots of people carry the gene but don't have red hair themselves. This is often why we see red hair skipping a generation or even multiple generations.
And when you meet a red head with blue eyes, you are looking at the rarest colour combination of all for human beings. Around 17 per cent of people have blue eyes, and when combined with 1-2 per cent having red hair, the odds of having both traits are around 0.17 per cent.
For starters, redheads typically have fair complexions and are more susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer. Some people with red hair also experience pain differently, or they can look older than they are.
In Asia, red hair can be found among some peoples of Afghan, Arab, Iranian, East Indians, Mongolian, Turkic, Miao, and Hmong descent. Several preserved samples of human hair have been obtained from an Iron Age cemetery in Khakassia, South Siberia.
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.
Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair.
Having red hair isn't the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs. Redheads probably won't go grey.
Research has shown that people with red hair perceive pain differently than others. They may be more sensitive to certain types of pain and can require higher doses of some pain-killing medications. However, studies suggest that their general pain tolerance may be higher.
Fun Fact: Redheads tend to have thinner enamel than other people, and so the inner layer of dentin is more visible and appears more yellow.
Irish immigrants arriving in Australia looking for labour gained a reputation as heavy drinkers and fighters, with 'blue' being local slang for a fight. The term evolved to come to mean a redheaded Irishman.
This can be tricky, since most natural redheads have either very light copper brows and lashes or barely-there blondish-white ones. That coloring poses a problem with too-dark mascara—if it isn't applied all the way to the lash line it's really noticeable.
But here's the thing. Despite its popularity, strawberry blonde hair only occurs naturally in between 1 and 2 percent of the world's total population — which means it takes hair color and technique to make it happen for the rest of us. In fact, it's a hue that's been rare yet in demand for centuries.