Melanin gives hair its color. How can there be different hair colors?

Answer 1

Melanin gives skin it's color, not hair. Hair color is determined by your parents, it's what your DNA says. Your hair might be blonde when both your parents have brown hair, it's just recessive genes

Answer 2

Recessive genes from white ancestors. Blue eyes and blonde hair was an evolutionary advantage for Caucasians in their cold climates. It would make no sense for black people to have an eye color other than brown and a hair color other than black or dark brown without a white ancestor because evolution just didn't make it that way. Sorry. I know you're trying to mislead people into believing that black people are the most diverse people that can have all shades of eye and hair colors, but it's only because of recessive genes. edit: BTW, you may not be mixed by proximity but you are mixed down your genetic line somewhere even if it's 100 + years ago. edit: Sorry Tiffany, all you explained is what one requires to have any of those eye or hair colors. Evolution is the foundation to that article. There are different colored eyes and hair colors for a reason not just because our genes happened to do it.

Answer 3

Different amounts of Melanin in the hair from non-to a whole lot.

Same as skin = that is why we really are not any different even though our skin color is different - it is just the amount of some chemical in our skin.

Answer 4

As the percentage of melanin changes, the hair color moves toward the white. Progressing thru brown, yellow, blue-gray, gray, and then white.

Answer 5

Hair color is the result of pigmentation due to the presence of the chemicals of melanin and phaeomelanin.

Human beings have many variations in hair color and hair texture. In general, the more melanin, the darker the hair color; the more phaeomelanin, the lighter it is. Usually the color of children's and adults' hair varies from pale yellow (blonde) to deep black. Hair may also come in more than one shade of color on one's head. As an example, the shade of one's hair color may change from a light shade to a darker one as time elapses.

The ethnic distribution of colors has historically varied by geographic area. For example, black hair predominates in the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. All possible shades from brown to blonde to red to black occur in Europeans and their descendants.

Considerable differences in hair color and texture exist between individuals of similar ethnicity, and immigration and global travel have greatly increased the diversity of hair characteristics in many countries. People also dye their hair to colors that do not occur naturally.

There are two types of pigment that gives hair its color, eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is brown/black, and pheomelanin is yellow/red. A low concentration of eumelanin in the hair and little or no phaeomelanin will give the hair a greyish (ash) blonde color, more eumelanin will give it a dull brown color, and a higher amount of eumelanin will result in black hair. Pheomelanin in low concentrations causes a yellow tone, and in higher concentrations creates a red color, in the same way that undiluted yellow food coloring appears red, but a few drops of it in water will turn it yellow. Most people have hair that contains a mixture of the two. If there is more eumelanin the color will appear more neutral or muted, if there is more pheomelanin the color will appear warmer or redder.

Pheomelanin is more chemically stable than eumelanin, so it breaks down more slowly when oxidized. It is for this reason that Egyptian mummies have reddish hair, as the pheomelanin is still present but the eumelanin has broken down. This is also the reason bleach will cause darker hair to turn red as it is processing, when it has broken down the eumelanin quickly but acts more slowly on the pheomelanin. As the pheomelanin breaks down, the hair will then become orange, then yellow.

Answer 6

Melanin is found in two forms. Eumelanin is the dark pigment which predominates in black and brunette hair. Phaeomelanin is a lighter pigment, which is found in red and blond hair. Many people's hair contains a mixture of the two: the more eumelanin there is in the mixture, the darker is the hair.

Answer 7

Genetics determines hair color: dominant genes vs. recessive genes

Answer 8

different types of melanin that and dna

Answer 9

melinin causes SKIN color, not hair color.
w/ hair, i think it's genetics...

Answer 10

genetics?