• Question: how is there differnt hair colours if its made of the same thing ?

    Asked by readlwh to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 14 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Your genes determine things like your eye and hair colour – everyone has different genes. Hair colour can also change from external factors such as the sun making some people go slightly blonder than usual.

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hair is mostly made of the same thing (protein), but it also has a pigment that is added by the follicle when the hair is growing.

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      There are two pigments added to hair as it grows. One lighter and one darker. The balance of these two pigments gives us all the different shades.

    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Your hair follicles produce a molecule called melanin, which gives hair its colour. We produce different amounts, depending on the precise details of our melanin biosynthesis genes. One of the relevant melanin biosynthesis genes in your DNA has 901 letters, starting with ATGGATATTC… You”ll find it here, if you scroll to the bottom
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/NC_004347.1?report=genbank&from=756464&to=757399&strand=true

      Slight differences in the letters in this gene, and a few others, lead to slight changes in the type and amount of melanin produced in your hair follicles, and this is what affects the colour.

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