Redheads Becoming Extinct !!!

[hippiechick]

I better get ta' reproducin' again !!!!

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050510/LIVING/505100338/1007

Red hair fading out? Experts unsure

By Robin L. Flanigan
Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle


... If predictions by the Oxford Hair Foundation come to pass, the number of naturally red-haired people everywhere will continue to dwindle until there are none left by the year 2100.

The reason, according to scientists at the independent institute in England, is that just 4 percent of the world's population carries the red-hair gene. The gene is recessive and therefore diluted when carriers produce children with people who have the dominant brown-hair gene.

Dr. John Gray's explanation of his foundation's findings: "The way things are going, red hair will either be extremely rare or extinct by the end of the century." But not everyone agrees that naturally red hair will be wiped out in the next 95 years, since 4 percent of the world's 6.4 billion people carry the gene.

"I think someone may want to check their calculator," says the University of Rochester Medical Center's David Pearce, an associate professor with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and genetics. The red-hair gene "will dilute out and become rare, but there are a variety of other factors that can change hair color that are not really understood well right now."

The gene responsible for red hair -- known as the melanocortin 1 receptor, or MC1R -- was discovered only in the late 1990s. People have a good chance of being born with red hair if they have a mutation of that gene. Red hair is found in all ethnic backgrounds, but is most commonly associated with people of Celtic descent...

... more

[chickenscratching]

1. i guess it's time for me (a red head) to start mass producing

before we're all gone!!! any takers?? :shrug:

[hippiechick]

9. Looks like we're going to have a couple real busy years !

:evilgrin:

[chickenscratching]

13. sheesh! i guess so

but i'll do anything for redheads

[mark414]

24. for the sake of humanity

i guess i could help

[chickenscratching]

26. Guess? Could?

NO! you WILL and you CAN

red heads are too important

:evilgrin:

[xmas74]

37. Question is: are you really a natural redhead?

I am but more on the auburn side (has gone auburn as I have gotten older). But I have proof that I can breed redheaded children. My daughter is a strawberry blonde. Her father's family cannot remember the last time that they had anyone w/ even a tint of red in their family.
Somehow, my genes must have dominated his.

[hippiechick]

41. uhhh ... i am ....

[xmas74]

53. That is a great shade!

Mine has gotten darker the last couple of years. Yours looks more strawberry in your picture than mine is now (but it used to be pretty close).

[chickenscratching]

72. you cutie!

with our adorable red headed cuteness, we could be in business!
did you realize what a business venture you were starting when you originally posted this?
:evilgrin:

[chickenscratching]

51. yes i am natural

unfortunately i do not know the prominence of that gene on my fathers side: he was adopted and has no interest in researching his blood-family. my mothers side, however, i think maybe only one other person has the red hair.

[xmas74]

54. My family has a long history of them.

At least one every generation.

[ContraBass Black]

43. May I help?

:evilgrin:

[hippiechick]

44. Any assistance is greatly appreciated

O8) :evilgrin:

[chickenscratching]

49. yes you may!

but get in line please :P

[hippiechick]

52. I think we need to work on a roster ...

;)

[chickenscratching]

58. heehee

and then there have to be auditions! it's important to keep the red heads population alive, however we don't need any scurvy shady blokes.

[ContraBass Black]

61. I suppose I should mention before I sign up

That I'm black.

[chickenscratching]

65. i should mention

that im a former whiny, white bread, suburban white girl :cry:

however, i only exclude

people without any arms/legs (only for convenience levels)

people who eat hostess twinkies

on edit: so it looks like you're in then! ;)

[hippiechick]

75. That's ok ... HippieKid's dad is black and she's got red in her hair

:) We're just powerful like that :)

[ContraBass Black]

79. Ok,

But what do we do about the ones that don't come out that way?

[hippiechick]

81. We just keep trying ...

The ones that aren't red's will still have the gene to pass on when they grow up ... the ones that are ... will ROCK !! :)


:thumbsup:

[hippiechick]

62. Yes, they have to be registered Dems ... at least.

... I am reminded of 'Still Life With Woodpecker' - where Robbins postulates that redheads were actually aliens who came to Earth to reproduce.

I'm likin' this project :)

[eyepaddle]

87. Well, I've got a red beard,

does that count?

Seriously, what the hell is up with that? There are tons of guys with blond or brown hair and red beards..any geneticists out there?

[chickenscratching]

90. it totally counts

does that mean you're in?
:P

[MrScorpio]

2. Babe, you're bumming me out

God can't let this happen

[xmas74]

38. Cuz I know how much you love us redheads.

[MrScorpio]

56. It's like you're breaking my heart

Is there no longer any point to living?

[xmas74]

59. My kid is a strawberry blonde w/ blue-grey eyes.

And my best friend, who has almost blood-red hair, keeps producing every four years. The three she already has all have some sort of shade of red. And there will probably be another one in about two more years.

[havocmom]

3. If we decide to make a wildlife refuge for them...

Havocpup would vote that we make it in Australia!

[Sanity Claws]

4. As long as Clairol and L'oreal are still around

there'll be redheads. Maybe this gives you an investment strategy.

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. I am of Celtic descent, although my hair is only very slightly ruddy.

Red-haired women: I hereby offer my services to perpetuate the tribe.

[hippiechick]

7. Quick, my clock is ticking !!

:)

[Magrittes Pipe]

8. I will not let you down.

[hippiechick]

12. Heh

:evilgrin:

[xmas74]

39. Should I take you up on the service?

I am a redhead (strawberry as a child and more auburn as I have gotten older) and my child is a strawberry blonde.
BTW-I tend produce them w/ grey eyes.

[Magrittes Pipe]

50. I don't care about the eyes...

...I'm only here to provide a service, ladies. I've got kids of my own to raise. This is more of a "carry out" deal.

[xmas74]

57. That's ok.

I added one to the gene pool. And my best friend adds one every four years (she has almost blood-red hair and it's real).
Kids got any red?

[Magrittes Pipe]

64. Do bad Manic Panic dye-jobs count?

:P

Anyway, that point is moot, as they're not of my seed. They're just my daughters.

[xmas74]

67. Nope-don't count.

My best friend will keep breeding all of the redheads of the world for us. She's pretty good at popping them out w/ some shade of red.

[giant_robot]

6. Of Celtic descent, but dark haired.

I get the occasional red hair in my beard, but aside from that my hair is brown. I'm afraid I'll be of little use breeding the bevy of beautiful DU redheads! :cry:

[redwitch]

10. redhaired redwitch checking in

alas, my offspring have brown hair (though the older guy has a red beard.

[LostInAnomie]

11. I have a few red hairs in my beard...

... come and get it ladies. Time to save the race.

[Double T]

14. It's Time To Set Up The Natural Redhead Defense Fund (NRDF)........

...we can not allow natural redheads to become extinct.

[chickenscratching]

15. i agree-red head mass orgy anyone?

[hippiechick]

22. We need to synch up our ovulatory cycles !

:)

[chickenscratching]

25. here:

i'm sending some pheromones your way!!

:rofl:

i still am impressed that our bodies can do that.

[hippiechick]

34. Set watches to T minus 28 days ...

:yourock:

[madrchsod]

16. my wife -had- long irish red hair

....cut it short and dyed blonde. oh well,can`t say nothing about it...

[the Princess]

17. OH NO!!!!

I love redheads!! One in particular. And my best girlfriend is a redhead too!!

This is devistating news. :(

[youthere]

18. There's a Hair Foundation?!

WTF?

No worries...me a redhead, gave birh to three beautiful redheaded babies. I've done my part.

[hippiechick]

23. THANK YOU !

O8) You've done your part to save the world !
But ...

[redqueen]

19. I love redheads...

I agree with the guy from URMC, though... someone at the hair foundation doesn't quite grok genetics. :)

[derby378]

20. Save the Celts!!

I can see it now - a Save the Celts fund (Aryan Nations need not apply).

[Shopaholic]

21. Redhead here

And I haven't reproduced yet and time is running out on me!

[Gogi]

30. You're a redhead, Shop?

So am I!

Redheads for KO! I wonder if KO has any redheaded ancestors, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??????????????

:loveya:

[Shopaholic]

40. Or better yet--

wonder if he'd be interested in mating with a redhead? I mean, obviously, we need help saving our people from extinction! Bunny Planet is a redhead too! Power to the redheaded KO fans!

[Gogi]

88. KO would have to have at least a grandparent with red hair on both sides

of his family because that's how it works. Neither of my parents has red hair but I had a red haired maternal grandfather and a red haired paternal grandmother.

[NoodleBoy]

27. well, my girlfriend and I--both redheads-- will be adding to the redhaired

population in 2-4 years. not very much though.

[hippiechick]

32. A couple are all it takes !

Your kids and some other DU redheadded kids - all grown up - and before we know it ... REDHEADED LIBERALS WILL RULE THE WORLD !!!

Muuuuaaahahahahahahahahaaa !! :evilgrin:

[ronnykmarshall]

28. The Redhead's got me baby!

The Redhead's got me baby!

[hippiechick]

33. Care to donate to the cause, RonnyK?

Your adorableness with my redheaddedness ... would be a sassy, sassy and irresistable couple of little liberals !!

:hi:

[norml]

29. Though my hair is light brown, I'd be glad to help any redheads with

reproduction. Redheads have always been my favorite color.

[Xithras]

31. Red hair is pretty much dead in my family line.

My maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather were both bright redheads who married brown haired people. This gave my father brownish red hair, and my mother a dull red mane. The hair on my siblings, my cousins, and myself is pretty much light brown, with the red really only showing up while we're out in the sun. Since we all married blondes and brunettes, NONE of our children have any signs of red hair.

So my bloodline went from 50% redhead to 0% redhead in just three generations. The blue eyes are also gone, with only three of the 17 grandkids having them (my wife is brown eyed, and two of my three kids ended up with brown eyes).

BTW, the extinction of the redhead is really inevitable. Red hair was a minor genetic mutation that was allowed to flourish because of the geographic isolation of the populations that carried it. Modern travel, migration, and immigration has removed those geopraphic boundaries, eliminating the "feedback" effect required to keep this feature common. Short of rounding up all of the worlds redheads and forcing them to breed in a closed environment, there's really nothing that can be done about it.

It may take several more centuries, but eventually blue eyes will meet the same fate.

[livetohike]

35. I didn't procreate! My red hair will not be passed on

and I am the only redhead in my family.

[chickenscratching]

48. FOR SHAME!

you bring sadness to my soul.

:cry:

[livetohike]

68. Aw

please don't :cry: chickenscratching :-).

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. I was told that red hair is often the result when a dark-haired person and

a blonde person have a child together. I've seen redheads among children (children too small to be using hair dye) with one Asian and one Caucasian parent.

[Shopaholic]

42. Well, there might be some truth in that--

my grandfather had blond hair, my grandmother was a brunette. My Mom's a redhead, but my Dad carries the red gene--when he grows a moustache or beard, there are red hairs in there. Also, he had a redheaded son (my half-brother) with his first wife-who was a blonde. So he's got two-redheaded kids!

[5thGenDemocrat]

45. Dear God, don't let it be so

I adore redheads. They carbonate my hormones.
John
It is now 38 days, 19 hours and 12 minutes to FUNDAY. Please come and bring a redhead with you. Or even two -- if they're not quite extinct yet.

[calico1]

46. I sent the article to two redheaded

coworkers of mine. One replied that the red hair in her family gets brighter with each generation. The other one, who is a Misourri native said that Misourri is crawling with redheads! I have never been there but if that is true, then I guess there is hope. I love naturally red hair. Almost every redhead I know has very shiny hair with hardly any split ends or frizz. I think its beautiful.

[xmas74]

63. I live in MO and I have red hair,

as do my two closest friends. All of our children have some shading of red. I think that it might be the combining of German, Irish and Scottish (almost everyone I know w/ red hair here claims all three in their background).

[Left Is Write]

47. There are red hair genes in my family, but

most of those born redheads became blondes by adulthood.

[hippiechick]

55. I was born blonde and have gotten redder as I get older

:) and I LOVE it !!!!

[Lex]

60. My 16 month old niece has red hair and she's a real cutie!

Both her parents have dark hair.

[AngryAmish]

66. There are not too many milkmen nowadays

My sister (fire engine red) was kidded when she was very young that she got her red hair from the milkman. (See, neither of my folks had red hair). So, one day she was in the grocery store with my mom and a stranger comes up to her and asked rhetoricaly "Where did you get your red hair?"

And my sister responds proudly "From the milkman."

My mother was mortified.

[livetohike]

69. I thought I was the only one with that answer!

Dad's hair was black and my Mom's is dark brown! None of my grandparents had red hair either. I was so tired of that question, "Where did that red hair come from?" That I resorted to the same answer as your sister.

I think I got slapped, actually :-).

[bloom]

70. That is too bad

I've always loved the color of my sons hair - rather coppery.

[sui generis]

71. I come from a long line of redheads

everyone in my family, plus my Dad's five sibs plus their parents and most of their children and grandkids. Three of my four nephews have red hair too, and my redheaded 6'7" bro married a redhead 6'4" amazon so look out we're gonna take over.

Ya'll better get humpin'!

:hi:

[chickenscratching]

73. wow

you get moved up to the head of the line

[Dukkha]

74. I have a big red hair fetish

Especially with freckles :P

So while I'm not a red head, I'll gladly offer my services to preserve the beautiful ones.

[chickenscratching]

76. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3225319&mesg_id=3225319

[Lex]

77. Showing off my baby niece--the red hair is coming in just fine!

[hippiechick]

80. She is PRECIOUS !!!

:loveya:

[CO Liberal]

78. I'm An Endangered Species!!!!

[Sequoia]

82. Up here in Northern Cal we've got redheads galore

and they are natural for the most part. Whole families of redheads as a matter of fact.

[loudestchick]

86. Tall Redheads?

[Canadian Socialist]

83. The red-hair gene is VERY dominant in my family

case in point. My brother married a lovely woman from India. Guess what colour the baby's hair is? Right. Red. My poor SIL is very upset. She keeps say, "Everyone will think I'm her nanny!" It's funny if you know her. She's a PhD. in Economics. Heeee. Everyone in my very extended family is born w/red hair.

[samplegirl]

84. Theres always clairol

80% of women dye there hair anyone.

[loudestchick]

85. I have dark hair, my husband has dark hair, loudestkid1 has lt brown hair

loudestkid2 has med. brown hair, loudestkid3 is a flaming redhead w/ a personality to match.

No redheads on loudestdad's side and I'm adopted...she was a bit of a shock. LOL:wow:

[Huckebein the Raven]

89. No !!!!!

I love redheads

:(