Evidence · Replicated

What the research found

In the cited research, the G allele at rs3827760 was associated with thicker hair shafts.

AA: Thinner
AG: Middle
GG: Thicker

Strong effect

What the study found

In the study, each copy went with cross-sectional area of a single scalp hair about 667.6 µm² higher on average.

Japanese adults in Tokyo · 189 people · Table 3 (EDAR 1540T/C, Area)

Evidence: Replicated association with measured hair-shaft thickness
Who was studied: Japanese, Thai-Mai and Indonesian cohorts

1000 Genomes Project

How common each genotype is

How common each genotype is in the 1000 Genomes Project, by region
Region	AAThinner	AGMiddle	GGThicker
All regions2,504 people	71%	10%	19%
Africa661 people	>99%	<1%	<1%
The Americas347 people	43%	35%	22%
East Asia504 people	2%	21%	77%
Europe503 people	98%	2%	Not seen
South Asia489 people	97%	3%	Not seen

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

Through time: Europe
Before farmingbefore 6500 BC	0%0 of 66 copies read
First farmers6500 to 3000 BC	1%7 of 1,022 copies read
Bronze Age3000 to 1200 BC	2%18 of 967 copies read
Iron Age and Antiquity1200 BC to AD 600	2%24 of 1,160 copies read
Middle AgesAD 600 to 1500	12%73 of 602 copies read
Today1000 Genomes	1%11 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.

For most ancient people only one of their two copies can be read, so these counts are copies read, not people. Close relatives, repeated samples and samples the archive marks as unreliable are left out. Damage in old DNA can fake this letter, so it is counted only from samples treated to remove that damage and from high-quality genomes. Ancient genomes from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR v66): 15,136 people.

rs3827760

The marker

Gene or region: EDAR
Marker: rs3827760
Location: Chromosome 2 · GRCh37 109,513,601 · GRCh38 108,897,145
Letters studied: A 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: EDAR · rs3827760
Location: Chromosome 2 · GRCh37 109,513,601 · GRCh38 108,897,145
Studied allele: G
Published statistic: RC 667.6 µm² per 1540C (forward G) allele, SRC 0.33, t 4.84, P 2.7e-6, n 189 (Table 3); with the Thai-Mai and Indonesian samples RC 571.4 µm², SRC 0.31, P 3.8e-10, n 375 (Table 4) (Table 3 (EDAR 1540T/C, Area))
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, people with 0, 1 and 2 copies: All regions 1788 / 252 / 464 · Africa 658 / 2 / 1 · The Americas 150 / 122 / 75 · East Asia 12 / 104 / 388 · Europe 492 / 11 / 0 · South Asia 476 / 13 / 0

See this card in the sample report

Limits

What it cannot tell you

EDAR V370A has several effects on hair and other features. It does not measure shaft thickness or your ancestry.

A replication study confirmed the EDAR gene to be a major contributor to population differentiation regarding head hair thickness in Asia (Fujimoto et al., 2008)

The same topic

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