The DNA for blonde hair and red hair are about equally strong. People who have DNA for both often have strawberry blonde hair.
Inheritance of red hair
MC1R is a recessive gene. This means that two copies (one inherited from each parent) are required for the trait to be observed. In this case, two copies of the variant are required for the child to be a redhead.
At the same time, redheads are better at manufacturing vitamin D and have a lower prostate cancer risk. The reason for those differences is rooted in DNA. People with red hair carry two copies of a variant melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene.
The gene for red hair is recessive to the gene for black hair.
If both parents passed on a ginger 'infected' hair colour chromosome, the child would be ginger. If one parent passed on a non-ginger chromosome, and the other a ginger chromsome, the child would be non-ginger, since everything other than ginger is dominant over ginger. Ginger is a recessive trait.
Since you need two pieces of “red hair” DNA to have red hair, your child will only have red hair if they receive “red hair” DNA from both parents. Even if you don't have red hair, you can still pass on a red hair allele to your child!
Both parents must possess the gene for a red-haired child to be born. Redheads have fewer strands of hair on their heads. If they both just have the gene but have brown hair lets say then there is a 1 in 4 chance of having a baby with red hair. If red is the dominant hair color but the father has brown hair …
It turns out that brown hair is dominant. That means that even if only one of your two alleles is for brown hair, your hair will be brown. The blond allele is recessive, and gets covered up.
But here's the thing. Despite its popularity, strawberry blonde hair only occurs naturally in between 1 and 2 percent of the world's total population — which means it takes hair color and technique to make it happen for the rest of us. In fact, it's a hue that's been rare yet in demand for centuries.
Mom gives us 50 percent of our DNA and our dad fills in the other half. But only the students who were really paying attention are likely to recall that not all genes are expressed equally. In many mammals, the scales seem to be tipped toward fathers, whose genes often win the war underway in the womb.
Redheads might have less damage/signs of aging
This means that there is a reduced risk of sun damage and early signs of aging in the skin of redheads. This means our skin stays youthful for longer, helping us appear younger.
Research has shown that people with red hair perceive pain differently than others. They may be more sensitive to certain types of pain and can require higher doses of some pain-killing medications. However, studies suggest that their general pain tolerance may be higher.
The gene variants involved are recessive, meaning two copies—one from the mother and one from the father—are required to produce a red-haired child. Only if both parents are redheads can they be almost certain their baby will have fiery hair, Zorina-Lichtenwalter says.
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
Since your genes never change, your hair color will never actually change to gray or white. The hair follicles instead just simply stop producing pigment. You can still be a redhead even if you don't have red hair on top of your head any longer because genetically you haven't changed.
Most redheads have a gene mutation called MC1R. This type of gene must be carried by both parents in order for a child to potentially be born with red hair. Lots of people carry the gene but don't have red hair themselves. This is often why we see red hair skipping a generation or even multiple generations.
How Rare Is Dirty Blonde Hair? About 2 percent of the population are natural blondes, but it's a very popular hair color because many turn to hair dye to achieve it. Brighter blonde shades like ashy blonde and beige blonde are more popular choices than dirty blonde, so you can consider dirty blonde a bit more unique.
Natural red hair is the rarest hair color in the world. A mere one to two percent of people are born with auburn hair. The prevalence is slightly higher in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially the British Isles (mainly Ireland and Scotland), than in the rest of the world.
First and foremost, ICY, PLATINUM, GREY OR SILVER is certainly the most difficult hair colour to achieve. This is the most difficult tricky colour on any level. This applies to platinum, icy and white as well as any silvers, greys, or dark slate grey.
Our best overall pick is Biolage Haircolor, a henna dye that's free from harmful chemicals including ammonia and PPD. We also love Madison Reed Radiant Hair Color Kit, which is free of ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, PDD, phthalates, and gluten, plus the added benefit of being packed with hydrating ingredients.
The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland. However, natural redheads may not exist for much longer.
A more recent study in the same journal employed a larger set of photos than were used by either Christenfeld and Hill or Brédart and French in their studies and still concluded that most infants resemble both parents equally.