I have heard that the recessive gene for redheads is going to run out.. do you t

Question:God, I hope not, what would the world do without red headed women ;-)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: God, I hope not, what would the world do without red headed women ;-)

No, genes don't run out unless the people carrying them stop breeding, but if all the redheads bred with very dark people the dominant dark genes would mask the redhead genes- people would have them and sometimes pass them down to their children but they wouldn't be visible in the population very often.

Anyway, this is really a science question, if you ask in the biology section you will probably get some better answers.

i am a natural born redhead. When I was walking down the street, a lady came up to me saying to be from the lock of love foundation and she told me how wonderful I would make a little girl feel is she lost all her hair to get my pretty red hair. She also said that redheads in 40-50 years would no longer exsist :( So I am growing my hair out right now for locks of love..

Contrary to popular belief, there is no recessive gene for red heads. This is a very common "layman" misconception.

Hair color (as well as skin and eye color) all have to do with the amount of eumelanin (only this for eye color) and pheomelanin production in the individual.

The xMelanin "genes" are the same, but the minor genes and other mechanisms differ for skin and hair than for eyes.

There is a genetic tie in as there are MULTIPLE (not just one) genes that control the amount of xMelanin that the body CAN produce (note the word "can", is not "will"). There are three (known) major genes that affect Eumelanin which are EYCL1, EYCL2 and EYCL3. One of the major gene associated with pheomelanin is OCA2 but there are others.

The combination of these HELP establish base color of hair. But there are many other genes that have minor effects (this results in a lot of shades). But more importantly there are other non-gene based mechanisms that influence hair color as well. Including environmental factors such as Vitamin D.

One recently discovered by NIH was a single nucleotide polymorphism (not a gene) that occurs near the OCA2 gene.

These "non-genetic" mechanisms determine not only how much xMelanin is produced (up to of course the maximum the body CAN produce) and just as important, how the xMelanin is distributed throughout the body, including to the hair.

This is why people's hair color can actually change. My daughter is a prime example. She was born with a head full of jet black hair. Yet, by the time she was a year old, her hair was auburn red and has remained that to this day. But she didn't change genes! So how can that happen? Well, those mechanisms that control the amount and distribution of xMelanin in her body developed or changed in the first year of life for her. I imagine when she reaches maybe 65 or so years of age, they might change again and she would turn maybe gray...but her genes won't change!