Curly hair is determined by factors you inherit from your biological mother and your biological father. There's no single gene that determines the way that your hair looks. The way your hair looks when you're born is also a clue into the genetic information you'd pass to your own children if you have them.
Curly hair is dominant, so someone is more likely to have curly or wavy hair if at least one of their parents does. Recent research points to trichohyalin, a protein in hair follicles, as having primary influence over hair curl. However, there are many genes contributing to hair curliness, most of them unknown.
The story of human migration and evolution is written in hair DNA. In sub-Saharan Africa, genes favour tight, curly hair. But in east Asia, mutations have led to straighter, thicker hair. In Europe, other mutations brought wavy and straw-coloured hair.
There is evidence that trichohyalin (TCHH) may affect hair curl in most/all world populations and that other genes such as EDAR and WNT10A only affect specific populations. Hair curl variation in native Africans is very likely a complex trait with multiple genes influencing curl.
Yes, in fact it's rather likely. Curly hair is dominant to straight hair, meaning if the child inherits the curly allele from her father, she will certainly display the curly phenotype, even though she will definitely inherit the “straight” allele from mom.
It could be that neither of your parents have curly hair, but an ancestor did. Then the curly hair gene could have been passed down through generations and your parents are carrier of that gene, which manifested its trait in you!
One popular myth is that hair loss in men is passed down from the mother's side of the family while hair loss in women is passed down from the father's side; however, the truth is that the genes for hair loss and hair loss itself are actually passed down from both sides of the family.
Curly hair is not certain to a race or ethnicity, it appears all over the world in many forms. White, brown, black and everything inbetween! There is also a scale on which curly hair is classified (2a-4c).
Less than 20% of people have naturally curly hair. The percentage gets even smaller when you consider the scores of guys out there who don't embrace their curls.
Lots of traits are statistically rare: Left-handedness (just 10 percent of the population!), curly hair (11 percent!), and blond hair (4 percent!), to name a few.
Caucasian hair can be smooth, wavy or curly.
The gene for curly hair in Caucasians
It has been long established that curly hair is a dominant trait in Caucasians and straight hair is recessive.
Follicle Shape- The shape of your hair follicle largely determines your curl. Oval follicle shapes produce curly hair while round follicles produce straight hair.
Where hair type is concerned, curly is a dominant trait. So if one parent passes on the curly-hair gene and the other a straight-hair gene, it's more likely that their child will have some sort of curl pattern to their hair.
In that case, the dominance (recessiveness) of the gene determines what the hair type of the child is. It could be that neither of your parents have curly hair, but an ancestor did.
The probability of the parents having a child with curly hair is 3/4, as shown in the Punnett square below: A Punnett square for the cross of two heterozygous parents is shown.
Coily Curls
The last, but most rare type of curl is the coily curl. This curl type is similar to that of an afro and when observed carefully, looks like the angular letter 'Z'. These curls require the most amount of moisture, as the hair type is much thicker than the other curl types.
Type 4C. 4C is the kinkiest, coiliest hair type there is. Sometimes the zigzag curl pattern is so dense and fine that it may be hard to see individual strands without stretching each strand out. However, 4C hair is also super versatile and can be worn in so many different natural hairstyles.
In fact, more people prefer curly hair to straight hair. Though beauty is seen differently by everyone, one thing is for sure; curly hair is getting a lot of love lately. In fact, in a survey conducted by StyleCaster, a surprising 58% of guys thought curly hair was sexier than other hair textures.
Lots of traits are statistically rare: Left-handedness (just 10 percent of the population!), curly hair (11 percent!), and blond hair (4 percent!), to name a few.
Yes, only 11% of the population have curly hair.
Caucasian hair usually appears thicker since it is more difficult to see through the scalp than other ethnic hair types. However, Asian hair is the thickest and coarsest hair of any ethnic group.
Is Hair Color Inherited from Mother or Father? Hair color comes from both parents through the chromosomes passed onto their child. The 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent) have genes made up of DNA with instructions of what traits a child will inherit. The results can be surprising.
All men inherit a Y chromosome from their father, which means all traits that are only found on the Y chromosome come from dad, not mom. The Supporting Evidence: Y-linked traits follow a clear paternal lineage.
Curly hair is considered a “dominant” gene trait. Straight hair is considered “recessive.” To put that in simple terms, that means that if one parent gives you a curly-haired gene and the other parent gives you a straight-haired gene, you'll be born with curly hair.