Is Red Hair in Your Genes? One New Test May Be Able to Tell You

by Lexi Novak



WWD/George Chinsee
WWD/George Chinsee

Of all the things that make life just a little bit sweeter--DVRs, heated car seats, Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Collide--DNA testing doesn't exactly spring to mind, unless you dream of appearing on a dramatic paternity-reveal episode of Maury. Yet without it, couples couldn't screen their future children for medical disorders, and dog owners couldn't boast that their mutts are descended from Shiba Inus. Now, we can add a new benefit to the list: A company in Scotland has developed a test to determine whether people carry the genes that produce redheads, according to CBS News. All you have to do is spit into a plastic tube, send it off to ScotlandsDNA, and await your results.

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Apparently, it takes a couple who both carry the recessive gene to produce a wee ginger, and even then, there's only a 25 percent chance. But here's the cool part: Neither parent, as Amy Poehler and Will Arnett can tell you, need be a redhead. ScotlandsDNA has a purpose for making this information available. Their homeland has the highest concentration of redheads in the world--more than Ireland, they say--and they consider flaming locks a badge of honor. "It's something rooted in our history and we should be proud," a company manager told CBS. Even as a salon-blend redhead of non-Scottish descent, I would have to agree.

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