MadSci Network: Genetics
Query:

Re: Can an Asian man w/a white blonde woman have a blonde child?

Date: Mon Mar 1 13:41:51 2004
Posted By: Shirley Chan, Ph.D.
Area of science: Genetics
ID: 1077843262.Ge
Message:

The answer rather depends on your definition of blonde.  Walk into any 
supermarket and check out the hair coloring aisle.  There are many 
different shades of blonde.  Hair (and skin) color do not follow simple 
Mendellian genetics because "color" is defined by the expression of more 
than one gene.  Basically the idea is that each of the genes express 
melanin -- the coloring pigment -- that then mixes for the actual color.  
How many genes and how much each gene expresses and when are all 
variables.  That's why there are so many shades of different colors for 
hair and skin.  It's unlikely that in the pairing you asked about that the 
child will have white blonde hair like the mother nor will the child have 
the same shade of hair color as the father.  The hair color will probably 
be a darker shade of "blonde" and could even be a light brunnette.


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