(September 2, 2009 at 10:05 am)mrjack Wrote: I live in Finland which is obviously a totally different environment when compared to Africa. I have red hair and light skin, which is most likely due to a mutation that affects the function of the MC1R protein. This is means that there isn't very much eumelanin in my skin and hair. Eumelanin is found in higher concentrations in people with dark hair and skin.
The last sentance is true. But wouldn't you have pheomelanin cause you have red hair?
(September 2, 2009 at 10:05 am)mrjack Wrote: There is a pro to having low concentrations of melanin when living in northern countries and that is the fact that you can then produce vitamin D with less exposure to UV radiation. This means that if one had a darker complexion and wasn't able to get enough vitamin D via food, then one's bones wouldn't develop properly. I have a higher risk of developing some form of skin cancer due to the lower concentration of melanin in my skin.
This is true.
(September 2, 2009 at 10:05 am)mrjack Wrote: Somebody could say: "That's not a beneficial mutation, you said it yourself that you have a higher risk of skin cancer". It's not that simple. The mutation is beneficial in the environment in which it succeeded to thrive and it may even be beneficial in other environments and thus spread even further, but it may also be detrimental in a different environment.
I will say this I don't know much about beneficial mutation. I will hopefully learn more about beneficial mutation here. This I do know, we should get limited amounts of sunshine in a day, and wear sunscreen.
Amp
