Credit: The American Chemical Society
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2017 — St. Patrick's Day evokes thoughts of all things often associated with the Irish — including red hair. Chemically speaking, what sets redheads apart from the crowd is pigmentation — specifically melanins. Most humans produce the brown-black eumelanin that results in varying shades of skin color and hair from blonde to black. Redheads have a genetic variant that causes cells to produce instead reddish pheomelanin, resulting in pale skin and fiery locks. How red hair is produced by redheads' cells might also explain why they have different sensitivity to pain.Watch the latest Reactions video here: https://youtu.be/Ylt_p2zzONw.
###
Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos. Reactions is a video series produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With nearly 157,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. The American Chemical Society does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected].
Follow us: Twitter Facebook
Media Contact
Katie Cottingham
[email protected]
301-775-8455
@ACSpressroom
http://www.acs.org
############
Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag
