Question

Only 1% of the world's population has red hair. It is caused by a recessive variation in the MCR1 gene that codes for hair color. In 1–2 sentences, explain how this variation could have formed in ancestral DNA, and how it has led to red hair through viable errors. Please answer simply, yet coherently, and intended for 9th grade.

Answer 1

The variation in the MCR1 gene that causes red hair likely formed as a random mutation in our ancestors' DNA, which is a normal part of evolution. When two carriers of this recessive gene passed it on to their children, some of those children could end up with red hair if they inherited the gene from both parents, resulting in a unique hair color trait that became more visible over generations.