Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Are People with Red Hair and Blue Eyes Going Extinct?
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Rarity of Red Hair and Blue Eyes Explained
1:56 Are People with Red Hair and Blue Eyes Going Extinct?
3:27 Vote for Video Topics and Merch
3:48 Climate and Red Hair Extinction?
5:16 Is Red Hair and Blue Eyes Actually Going to Become More Common?
Are people with red hair and blue eyes going extinct? Now when I was researching one of my previous videos on how red hair and blue eyes spread to Europe, I kept coming across articles asking this question about whether people with these traits are facing an extinction event? So in this video I am going to look at what this is all about, the main arguments involved and whether there is any truth to it? And if there is any truth to it, then I’m probably screwed 😊
Now let’s first look at where this concern comes from? One main reason people are asking this question is because of how rare it is to have both of these traits. As I note in a previous video, having red hair and blue eyes is generally considered the rarest eye and hair color combination on earth, with it estimated that the percentage of people across the globe with both these traits is only 0.17%. As an interesting aside, other very rare hair and eye color combinations are red hair and green eyes, at less than 1% of the global population, and blond hair and green eyes, at less than 2% of the global population. Yet red hair and blue eyes is the rarest.
The reason why this combination is so rare is because it is caused by at least two separate genetic mutations, both of which are considered recessive traits, meaning that you need to inherit the same recessive allele for both traits from both parents for this combination to appear. Red heads have a variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R) located on chromosome 16, which is involved in melanin production and is the primary driver of red hair. Blue eyes on the other hand are linked to a mutation in the HERC2 gene, which influences the expression of the adjacent OCA2 gene, a gene that is again involved in melanin production. So in order to have red hair and blue eyes, you need to have both these genetic mutations. Now I should note that other genes also probably play a role in these traits being expressed, but these two separate mutations are still some of the main drivers of red hair and blue eyes developing.
But are people with red hair and blue eyes going extinct? Well one common argument is that because the combination of these traits is extremely rare, this combination could be lost through a dilution effect i.e. that the few individuals that carry these traits don’t reproduce, and so it is lost to future generations. Yet the reality is that many more people carry the genes for these traits even though they are not necessarily expressed in that individual or in their children. For example, it is estimated that around 40% of the Scottish population carry the red hair gene variant, but only between 6-13% of people in Scotland actually have red hair expressed as a trait.
Sources:
Are redheads with blue eyes really going extinct? | Pursuit by the University of Melbourne
Opinion | Red hair: a blessing or a curse? - The Washington Post
Red hair - Wikipedia
Are You Carrying the Redhead Gene | Ginger Gene DNA | Live Science
The genetic causes, ethnic origins and history of red hair - Eupedia
Red hair - Wikipedia
Valverde, P., Healy, E., Jackson, I. et al. Variants of the melanocyte–stimulating hormone receptor gene are associated with red hair and fair skin in humans. Nat Genet 11, 328–330 (1995). doi.org/10.1038/ng1195-328
The people with the reddest hair in the world - BBC News
Oxford Blueprint: 31.05.01: Red hair genes 100,000 years old (archive.org)
Redheads are here to stay, despite what you may have heard | Beauty | The Guardian
What Causes Red Hair? - 23andMe United Kingdom
Morgan, M.D., Pairo-Castineira, E., Rawlik, K. et al. Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability. Nat Commun 9, 5271 (2018). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07691-z
Are redheads going extinct? | HowStuffWorks
Relax, redheads. You're not about to die out | Biology | The Guardian
Redheads aren’t going extinct. Here’s why.
Gingers face extinction due to climate change, scientists warn | The Independent | The Independent
The genes linked to red hair | The University of Edinburgh
Blue eyes rarity – redheads – red hair – ginger hair – mc1r gene – blue eyes – red hair facts - red hair extinct - redheads extinction
#redhair #blueeyes #ancestry
Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded: youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1
Vote For the Video Topics You Want to See & Support This Channel - patreon.com/historydecoded
Check Out My Merch Store: celtic-history-decoded.creator-spring.com
Are People with Red Hair and Blue Eyes Going Extinct?
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:28 Rarity of Red Hair and Blue Eyes Explained
1:56 Are People with Red Hair and Blue Eyes Going Extinct?
3:27 Vote for Video Topics and Merch
3:48 Climate and Red Hair Extinction?
5:16 Is Red Hair and Blue Eyes Actually Going to Become More Common?
Are people with red hair and blue eyes going extinct? Now when I was researching one of my previous videos on how red hair and blue eyes spread to Europe, I kept coming across articles asking this question about whether people with these traits are facing an extinction event? So in this video I am going to look at what this is all about, the main arguments involved and whether there is any truth to it? And if there is any truth to it, then I’m probably screwed 😊
Now let’s first look at where this concern comes from? One main reason people are asking this question is because of how rare it is to have both of these traits. As I note in a previous video, having red hair and blue eyes is generally considered the rarest eye and hair color combination on earth, with it estimated that the percentage of people across the globe with both these traits is only 0.17%. As an interesting aside, other very rare hair and eye color combinations are red hair and green eyes, at less than 1% of the global population, and blond hair and green eyes, at less than 2% of the global population. Yet red hair and blue eyes is the rarest.
The reason why this combination is so rare is because it is caused by at least two separate genetic mutations, both of which are considered recessive traits, meaning that you need to inherit the same recessive allele for both traits from both parents for this combination to appear. Red heads have a variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R) located on chromosome 16, which is involved in melanin production and is the primary driver of red hair. Blue eyes on the other hand are linked to a mutation in the HERC2 gene, which influences the expression of the adjacent OCA2 gene, a gene that is again involved in melanin production. So in order to have red hair and blue eyes, you need to have both these genetic mutations. Now I should note that other genes also probably play a role in these traits being expressed, but these two separate mutations are still some of the main drivers of red hair and blue eyes developing.
But are people with red hair and blue eyes going extinct? Well one common argument is that because the combination of these traits is extremely rare, this combination could be lost through a dilution effect i.e. that the few individuals that carry these traits don’t reproduce, and so it is lost to future generations. Yet the reality is that many more people carry the genes for these traits even though they are not necessarily expressed in that individual or in their children. For example, it is estimated that around 40% of the Scottish population carry the red hair gene variant, but only between 6-13% of people in Scotland actually have red hair expressed as a trait.
Sources:
Are redheads with blue eyes really going extinct? | Pursuit by the University of Melbourne
Opinion | Red hair: a blessing or a curse? - The Washington Post
Red hair - Wikipedia
Are You Carrying the Redhead Gene | Ginger Gene DNA | Live Science
The genetic causes, ethnic origins and history of red hair - Eupedia
Red hair - Wikipedia
Valverde, P., Healy, E., Jackson, I. et al. Variants of the melanocyte–stimulating hormone receptor gene are associated with red hair and fair skin in humans. Nat Genet 11, 328–330 (1995). doi.org/10.1038/ng1195-328
The people with the reddest hair in the world - BBC News
Oxford Blueprint: 31.05.01: Red hair genes 100,000 years old (archive.org)
Redheads are here to stay, despite what you may have heard | Beauty | The Guardian
What Causes Red Hair? - 23andMe United Kingdom
Morgan, M.D., Pairo-Castineira, E., Rawlik, K. et al. Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability. Nat Commun 9, 5271 (2018). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07691-z
Are redheads going extinct? | HowStuffWorks
Relax, redheads. You're not about to die out | Biology | The Guardian
Redheads aren’t going extinct. Here’s why.
Gingers face extinction due to climate change, scientists warn | The Independent | The Independent
The genes linked to red hair | The University of Edinburgh
Blue eyes rarity – redheads – red hair – ginger hair – mc1r gene – blue eyes – red hair facts - red hair extinct - redheads extinction
#redhair #blueeyes #ancestry
