Why do fair-skinned people get more freckles when they are out in the sun?

Question

I love my freckles, thanks, I was just curious.

Answer 1

Not all fair-skinned people do...just those who have freckles to begin with.

Freckles are very much like getting a tan. Both are a result of melanin coming to the surface of the skin cells. This generally acts to protect the nucleus of the cell from the direct radiation of the sun (it's skin's way of putting up shade).

Answer 2

Some people tan and some people freckle, I do both! When I get really burnt too quickly, I get those ugly big freckles. It is the way your skin defends itself against skin damage from the Sun.

Answer 3

First off, hair, skin and eye color are all determined by the presence of a set of small molecules called melanins in our skin, eyes and hair. Melanin compounds are produced by cells called melanocytes, which are spread thoughout your skin. The production of melanin by melanocytes is controlled via a hormone known as melanocortin-stimulating hormone, and melanocytes have on their cell surfaces a special receptor for this hormone called the melanocortin-stimulating hormone receptor. The gene for this receptor is called MC1R.

Now, the interesting thing here is that different people have different versions (alleles) of this MC1R gene, which will produce different versions of the melanocortin-stimulating hormone receptor. These alleles will respond differently when melanocortin-stimulating hormone is present, and melanocytes will produce different amounts and qualities of melanin in response. It is currently thought that much of the basis for differences in eye, hair and skin color is due to the various alleles of the MC1R gene.

So, how does all of this relate to your question? Well, Freckles (or Ephelides as they are known to doctors), are really melanocytes which are responding to UV light. When a fair skinned person is exposed to sunlight, they develop freckles, and when they shield themselves from the sun for prolonged periods of time, the freckles will fade. It has long been hypothesized that this freckle response was genetic. The current theory is that fair-skinned people (who tend to have red-hair because of genetic linkage) have an allele of MC1R which results in both overall low melanin production and the freckle response of melanocytes.

So, to summarize your answer, people with red-hair tend to have fair skin, and people with fair skin usually have fair skin because they have an allele of the MC1R gene which does not produce much melanin. It is thought that these same low-melanin-producing MC1R alleles are responsible for the response of melanocytes to UV which is characteristic of freckles. I said that fair skin is usually the result of a MC1R variant, but there are examples of people with Albinism, or darker-skinned but red-headed African people developing freckles as well. This suggests that there may be additional mechanisms which will result in a freckle. As is usually the case with biological phenomena, there are almost always multiple ways for a given thing to come about.

Answer 4

Their genetics predispose them to getting freckles instead of tanning like darker skinned people do.

Answer 5

I get freckles on my face and shoulders during the summer and I used to hate it but now I embrace it.

Answer 6

i really dont know but im the same way so dont feel bad.