GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today is their day and nobody can take it from them.
Gingers (people with red hair) all over are celebrating 'National Redheads Day', which happens every year on Nov. 5.
Redheads have been around forever, but it was only in the year 2000 that scientists identified the gene responsible for red hair - the Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R) Protien. We all possess this gene. When it mutates, it causes the characteristics that are prominent in redheads like hair color, pale skin and light eyes.
"Red hair is unusual because of the way it's passed down genetically," said Dr. Caleb Bupp, geneticist with Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.
According to the website medicaldaily.com, there are several health anomalies that are connected to redheads only: redheads are more sensitive to painkillers; redheads detect temperature changes more accurately; redheads need more anesthesia during surgery; redheads produce their own Vitamin D; redheads rarely go gray.
"We have two copies of our genetic information," said Dr. Bupp. "We get one from our mom and one from our dad, and for someone to have red hair, they need to inherit the specific genetic change from both mom and dad.
"It's unusual to inherit something in a specific pattern that causes the child or person to have red hair, so that's why there aren't a lot of redheads out there."
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