DNA Traits · Appearance
Freckling (EMX2)
Whether people report having freckles, the small tan spots the sun brings out.

What the research found
In the cited research, the T allele at rs35563099 was associated with reporting freckles less often in the studied East Asian cohorts.
- CC
- More often
- CT
- Middle
- TT
- Less often
- Evidence
- Genome-wide association with independent replication
- Who was studied
- East Asian ancestry (Chinese men and women; Japanese women)
How common each genotype is
| Region | CCMore often | CTMiddle | TTLess often |
|---|---|---|---|
| All regions2,504 people | 72% | 25% | 3% |
| Africa661 people | 67% | 28% | 5% |
| The Americas347 people | 81% | 18% | <1% |
| East Asia504 people | 81% | 18% | <1% |
| Europe503 people | 71% | 27% | 2% |
| South Asia489 people | 65% | 30% | 4% |
Among the 2,504 people of the 1000 Genomes Project, in five world regions. These percentages describe groups of people, never anyone’s chance of having a trait.
Through time
How often the studied letter was read in ancient people, era by era, in the region chosen.
| Before farmingbefore 6500 BC | 27%11 of 41 copies read |
|---|---|
| First farmers6500 to 3000 BC | 19%128 of 673 copies read |
| Bronze Age3000 to 1200 BC | 22%127 of 574 copies read |
| Iron Age and Antiquity1200 BC to AD 600 | 17%145 of 830 copies read |
| Middle AgesAD 600 to 1500 | 11%47 of 409 copies read |
| Today1000 Genomes | 15%154 of 1,006 copies |
Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes
- Altai Neanderthal
- Not read
- Vindija Neanderthal
- Not read
- Chagyrskaya Neanderthal
- No copies
- Denisovan
- Not read
The marker
- Gene or region
- EMX2 / RAB11FIP2 region
- Marker
- rs35563099
- Location
- Chromosome 10 · GRCh37 119,572,403 · GRCh38 117,812,892
- Letters studied
- C and T, with T as the studied allele
A DNA Traits report reads this marker in your raw DNA file and shows which of the three genotypes is yours, with how common it is. It counts the copies of the studied allele; it does not measure the trait itself.
- Marker
- EMX2 / RAB11FIP2 region · rs35563099
- Location
- Chromosome 10 · GRCh37 119,572,403 · GRCh38 117,812,892
- Studied allele
- T
- Published statistic
- OR 0.60 (0.51 to 0.71) per T allele for freckles, P 3.51e-9, validation OR 0.58, P 1.07e-3, n 8,251 (Wang 2022 Supplementary Tables 2 and 3); Endo 2018 Table 1: OR 0.78 (0.70 to 0.86) per T for age spots and freckles shared, P 1.2e-6 as a secondary signal, while the region's own freckles lead rs10444039, which has r2 0.99 with this marker in 1000 Genomes East Asians, gives OR 0.60 (0.54 to 0.67) per A, P 5.6e-21 (Supplementary Table 3 (Freckles, rs35563099) and Supplementary Table 2 (discovery set size), in the supplementary PDF DataSheet1)
- 1000 Genomes Project phase 3, people with 0, 1 and 2 copies
- All regions 1810 / 623 / 71 · Africa 443 / 184 / 34 · The Americas 282 / 63 / 2 · East Asia 407 / 92 / 5 · Europe 358 / 136 / 9 · South Asia 320 / 148 / 21
What it cannot tell you
The same marker as the EMX2 tanning card; the freckles result comes from East Asian studies only, and they recorded only whether people reported freckles.
Novel genetic associations with five aesthetic facial traits: A genome-wide association study in the Chinese population (Wang et al., 2022)More in Appearance
- Eye pigmentation
- Red hair association
- Blond hair association
- Hair shape
- Hair thickness association
- Skin pigmentation
- Freckling association
- Hair greying association
- Eyebrow thickness association
- Beard density association
- Unibrow association
- Nose bridge breadth association
- Nose wing breadth association
- Nose protrusion association
- Nose tip angle association
- Chin protrusion association
- Earlobe attachment association
- Earlobe size association
- Ear ridge folding association
- Male pattern hair loss
- Male pattern hair loss, HDAC9 marker
- Male pattern hair loss, EBF1 marker
- Male pattern hair loss, WNT10A marker
- Hair lightness, SLC24A4 marker
- Blond hair, TPCN2 marker
- Hair lightness, SLC45A2 marker
- Red hair, ASIP region marker
- Hair lightness, HERC2 marker
- Hair colour, IRF4 marker
- Hair shape, WNT10A marker
- Hair shape, PADI3 marker
- Hair shape, HOXC13 marker
- Hair shape, GATA3 region marker
- Hair shape, FRAS1 marker
- Hair shape, LCE3E marker
- Straight hair, EDAR marker
- Eyebrow thickness, FOXD1 region marker
- Eyebrow thickness, FOXL2 marker
- Shovel-shaped incisors
- Finger length ratio (SMOC1 marker)
- Finger length ratio (LDAH marker)
- Finger length ratio (SALL1 marker)
- Finger length ratio (OLA1 marker)
- Nose root position
- Nose wing breadth (PAX1 marker)
- Earlobe attachment (PAX9 marker)
- Earlobe attachment (KIAA1217 marker)
- Earlobe attachment (MRPS22 marker)
- Fingerprint whorls (ADAMTS9 marker)
- Fingerprint whorls (EVI1 marker)
- Fingerprint whorls (SALL3 marker)
- Green or hazel eyes
- Eye pigmentation (TYR)
- Freckling (TYR)
- Skin pigmentation (OCA2 H615R)
- Freckling (PPARGC1B)
- Freckling (HSPA12A)
- Freckling (BNC2)
- Freckling (EIF6, ASIP region)
- Skin lightness (OCA2 A481T)
- Eye pigmentation (TSPAN10)
- Eye pigmentation (TYRP1)
- Eye pigmentation (SLC24A4)
- Eye pigmentation (SIK1)
- Eye pigmentation (OCA2 exon ten)
See your own two letters.
Upload the raw DNA file you already have. Your report reads this marker and every other card studied for you, each with its evidence and its limits.