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Blond hair among dark-skinned native peoples from Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands is due to an in-house genetic variation that is distinct from the gene responsible to the appearance of blond hair among Europeans as per new research from Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford University School of Medicine.

“This is one of the most beautiful examples to date of the mapping of a simple genetic trait in humans,” stated David Reich, PhD, Professor of Genetics in Harvard University, who was not part of the research.

The research that identified the gene that is responsible for blonde hair of the Solomon Islands, a nation located in the South Pacific, represents a very rare instance of genetics that determine human appearance. It also illustrates the importance to include populations with little study for gene mapping research according to co-author Carlos D. Bustamante PhD, Professor of Genetics at Stanford. The results were released on April 4 in Science..

“Since many studies of human genetics are conducted with participants from European origin, we could have a partial perspective of the way genetic mutations and genes influence our research on traits. We wanted to determine if one of the most notable human characteristics Blond hair had the exact as – or a differentgenetic basis in various people,” Bustamante said.

The world over, blond hair is not common, and occurs at a high frequency in the northern part of Europe as well as in Oceania including Oceania, which includes the Solomon Islands and its neighbors. “Its frequency is between 5 and 10 percent across the Solomon Islands, which is about the same as where I’m from,” stated co-author Eimear Kenny PhD from Ireland.

The blond hair of Melanesia is due to genetic flow, an inheritance passed down by European traders, explorers and other visitors to the island earlier in time. Islanders themselves offer a number of possibilities for a reason why it is there as explained by co-author Sean Myles, PhD, who was a former Stanford postdoctoral researcher who has become an associate professor of Nova Scotia Agricultural College. It was generally attributed due to exposure to sunlight, or perhaps a diet that was rich in fish, according to Myles.

Researchers at UCSF produced genetic data using the specimens, Kenny the postdoctoral fellow in the Bustamante lab, began the study in September in the same week that she began her studies at Stanford. “Within an entire week, we were able to get our first result. It was an incredibly striking result that was pointing at a single gene — an outcome that you can rely on. This is not often seen in the field of science.” she explained. “It was one of the best experiences of my career.”

For genetic research it was easy to analyze according to Kenny. However, gathering the information completed through 2009 with Myles as well as co-author Nicholas Timpson, PhD, was more complicated. A large portion part of Solomon Islands is undeveloped, with no electricity, roads or phone lines. The Solomon Islands are also among the countries with the largest diversity of languages on the planet, featuring many different languages used.

This was a second trip for Myles who visited in the year 2004 when he was the graduate student of Max Planck Institute molecular anthropologist Mark Stoneking, PhD, (also co-author on the research) to see if variation in the language was correlated to genetic changes. When he was there, Myles was fascinated by the prevalence of blonde hair and was noticed that it was most common in children.

“They have this dark complexion and bright, blonde hair. This was mind-blowing.” stated Myles. “As a geneticist on the beach watching the kids playing, you count up the frequency of kids with blond hair, and say, ‘Wow, it’s 5 to 10 percent.'”

A award from the Wenner-Gren Foundation to support Anthropological Research granted Myles the opportunity to study hair color. Myles at the moment was working as a postdoctoral researcher Cornell University, his chance to research the genetics behind hair color of the Solomon Islanders’ hair color. Myles was working alongside Bustamante as well as Timpson who was working at Cornell and was the lead researcher on the research. After returning to Solomon Islands, Myles as well as Timpson walked from village to village, explaining what they were planning to accomplish and requesting permission to gather information, Myles using Solomon Islands pidgin, the most commonly spoken language in Solomon Islands.

After the chief of the village gave permission, researchers took participants to the site and measured the skin and hair color with the light reflectance test and blood pressure measurements and measured weights and heights. The researchers asked people to pour their spit into tiny tubes so that saliva could use for DNA extraction. Within a month, they took over 1,000 DNA samples.

Although the islands are in line with people’s ideal of paradise on earth but they’re lacking features that Westerners are used to. As an example, getting a flat spot to place the scales used to weigh subjects was an issue.

Then, in 2010, Bustamante was appointed to Stanford’s faculty through funds through the Department of Genetics, the group looked into the genes that underlie the striking characteristic. Then, Kenny joined the lab and began her analysis by choosing 43 blondes and 42 haired dark Solomon Islanders from the opposite 10% and 10 percent of hair’s pigmentation. The results were utilized for a study of genome-wide associations that identifies variations in prevalence of genetic variations among two distinct groups. It typically requires a large number of specimens.

Since the majority of the human physical traits studied to date are a result of genetic and environmental influences, Kenny expected an inconclusive outcome that required more research. In reality, she was able to see the presence of a single, strong signal of chromosome 9, that was responsible for 50% of the variations in Solomon Islanders’ hair color.