DNA Traits · Appearance
Hair lightness, SLC45A2 marker
How light or dark natural hair colour is.
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Evidence · Replicated
What the research found
In the cited research, the G allele at rs16891982 was associated with lighter natural hair colour.
- CC
- Darker range
- CG
- Middle
- GG
- Lighter range
Clear effect
What the study found
In the study, each copy went with lower natural hair colour on a scale from blond (lowest) to black (highest) on average.
23andMe research participants of European ancestry · 150,172 people · Supplementary Table 2 (rs16891982 row, 23andMe columns: N 150172, beta 0.4299 SD per C, SE 0.0090; flipped to G) and its caption (betas in SD units)
- Evidence
- Replicated genome-wide association
- Who was studied
- Primarily European ancestry
1000 Genomes Project
How common each genotype is
| Region | CCDarker range | CGMiddle | GGLighter range |
|---|---|---|---|
| All regions2,504 people | 67% | 11% | 22% |
| Africa661 people | 93% | 6% | <1% |
| The Americas347 people | 35% | 36% | 28% |
| East Asia504 people | 99% | 1% | Not seen |
| Europe503 people | <1% | 11% | 88% |
| South Asia489 people | 89% | 11% | <1% |
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.
Ancient genomes
Through time
How often the studied letter was read in ancient people, era by era, in the region chosen.
Region
Europe
| Before farmingbefore 6500 BC | 18%21 of 120 copies read |
|---|---|
| First farmers6500 to 3000 BC | 37%443 of 1,204 copies read |
| Bronze Age3000 to 1200 BC | 54%657 of 1,225 copies read |
| Iron Age and Antiquity1200 BC to AD 600 | 83%1,501 of 1,816 copies read |
| Middle AgesAD 600 to 1500 | 85%1,416 of 1,660 copies read |
| Today1000 Genomes | 94%944 of 1,006 copies |
Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes
- Altai Neanderthal
- No copies
- Vindija Neanderthal
- No copies
- Chagyrskaya Neanderthal
- No copies
- Denisovan
- No copies
Neanderthals and Denisovans carried the other letter, so this letter is younger than our split with them.
rs16891982
The marker
- Gene or region
- SLC45A2 (Leu374Phe)
- Marker
- rs16891982
- Location
- Chromosome 5 · GRCh37 33,951,693 · GRCh38 33,951,588
- Letters studied
- C and G, with G 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
- SLC45A2 (Leu374Phe) · rs16891982
- Location
- Chromosome 5 · GRCh37 33,951,693 · GRCh38 33,951,588
- Studied allele
- G
- Published statistic
- Per C (darker) allele: 0.450 SD UK Biobank (SE 0.013), 0.430 SD 23andMe (SE 0.009), meta 0.436 SD (SE 0.007), all P below 1e-100; VisiGen replication z 12.37, P 4.1e-35 (Hysi Supplementary Table 2). Morgan 2018: C OR 0.304 for blonde against brown or black (P 3.1e-181, Supplementary Table 4) and 0.353 for brown against black (P 2.25e-308, Supplementary Table 7), i.e. 3.29 and 2.83 per G; 0.43 SD per copy (Supplementary Table 2 (rs16891982 row, 23andMe columns: N 150172, beta 0.4299 SD per C, SE 0.0090; flipped to G) and its caption (betas in SD units))
- 1000 Genomes Project phase 3, people with 0, 1 and 2 copies
- All regions 1676 / 279 / 549 · Africa 617 / 41 / 3 · The Americas 123 / 126 / 98 · East Asia 498 / 6 / 0 · Europe 4 / 54 / 445 · South Asia 434 / 52 / 3
Limits
What it cannot tell you
The two letters split mainly between world regions: most people of European ancestry carry two copies of the lighter letter and most others none.
Genome-wide association meta-analysis of individuals of European ancestry identifies new loci explaining a substantial fraction of hair color variation and heritability (Hysi et al., 2018)The same topic
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
- 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 (EMX2)
- 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)
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