Why Solomon People Have Dark Skin and Blond Hair?

Population in the Solomon Islands-Pacific Region has dark skin, like the Africans. Although dark-skinned, many of them who has blond hair, like the Europeans. Now, researchers have discovered a single gene that could explain the mystery of why that dark-skinned people have blond hair. 

The unique recessive gene for blond hair is an example of convergent evolution. (Picture from: http://www.earthtimes.org/)

Within report in the journal Science, some researchers claim that a single mutation is responsible for nearly half the population of Solomon hair color variation. Their results are very surprising. Mutations of this gene seems to arise in the Pacific was not brought by the Europeans blond who marry residents archipelago.

"Characteristics of the blond people arose independently," said Eimear Kenny, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine, "was very interesting and unexpected."

On the way to the small islands in the Solomons, Sean Myles and Nicholas Timpson, colleague Kenny, noting how many people with blond hair. "It's not too far from the proportion of blond-haired people in Europe," said Kenny.

To analyze the gene behind the hair color of the Solomons, the researchers collected saliva from 43 blond people and 42 dark haired people. A gene called tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1), which is located on ninth chromosome of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes, explaining 46.4 percent of the population of Solomon hair color variation.

Genomic analysis of 52 human populations in the world reveals that this mutation does not appear in the genome of Europeans. Gene mutation that seems to arise independently and survive in a Melanesian population.

That's what makes it different genes from the gene responsible for blue eyes. The blue eye gene from a single common ancestor between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. Before that, there is no blue-eyed people. *** [LIVESCIENCE | KORAN TEMPO 3875]

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