Melanin is the molecule responsible for the many different hair color tones. It's also responsible for the color of our skin and eyes. We inherit these traits from our parents in a complex way.

Understanding how our genetic information can produce different hair color tones can be as difficult as untangling long hair after not brushing it for several days.

Even though some genes are known to determine hair color variation, recent studies based on large cohorts of people from the United Kingdom and Latin America have shown that there are more than a dozen genes involved in hair color.

In a recent paper published in Communications Biology, my colleagues and I studied the genes involved in hair color in a Canadian cohort of nearly 13,000 individuals of European-related ancestry. Our findings provide insights about genetic variants that may be driving differences in hair color.

Types of melanin

Melanin is produced in a specific cell-type called melanocytes found in skin, eyes and hair follicles. Melanin is also found in the brain. The type and amount of melanin and how it is distributed in cells is what creates differences in hair, skin and eye color.