Being blessed with a red mane, you certainly stand out from the crowd. Girls with red hair are considered as graceful, elegant and seductive. But did you know that red hair is a recessive characteristic trait caused by a series of mutations in the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) on the chromosome 16? This is why red hair usually goes hand in hand with pale skin and freckles. One of the most famous redheads has made millions of wizardry fans believe in the magic of friendship on the movie theatre or TV screen. The red hair made Ronald Weasley, portrayed by Rupert Grint, from the Harry Potter series a well known person in the fictional world of wizardry and witchcraft and in the real world.
Rupert Grint himself comes from England, which is not surprising considering the fact that most redheads come from Scotland, Ireland and England as well as from Scandinavia and the region north from the Caucasus. But surprisingly, there is a small number of indigenous peoples living in Japan and New Guinea that were born with red hair as well.
Apart from the rareness of red hair, redheads are born with kind of unique traits. Because red hair usually is thicker, Redheads have the fewest strands of hair with an average of 90,000 hairs. Brunettes on the other hand have 120.000 hairs. Furthermore, scientists believe that people with alterations on the chromosome 16 are more sensitive to pain and need a higher dose of anesthetics. In addition, their skin produces more Vitamin D on average.
To this day, some experts are convinced that Neanderthals had a version that caused the red hair.
