Many factors influence the color of people's skin, but the pigment melanin is by far the most important.
A person's skin color is determined primarily by the proportion of eumelanin to pheomelanin, the overall amount of melanin produced, and the number and size of melanosomes and how they are distributed. People with naturally darkly pigmented skin have melanosomes that are large and filled with eumelanin.
Melanin is the pigment that produces the various shades and colors of human skin, hair, and eyes. Coloration (pigmentation) is determined by the amount of melanin in the skin. Without melanin, the skin would be pale white with shades of pink caused by blood flow through the skin.
Skin colour is largely due to melanin pigment produced by melanocytes. These cells originate from the neural crest and are found in the skin from the eighth fetal week onwards. The production of melanin is influenced by many factors, including ethnic background and sun exposure.
Skin color is polygenic (many genes) and follows an incomplete dominance inheritance (you mostly get an intermediate between the two colours of the parents). But if we simplify it, then the darker skin would be the 'dominant.
All modern humans share a common ancestor who lived around 200,000 years ago in Africa. Comparisons between known skin pigmentation genes in chimpanzees and modern Africans show that dark skin evolved along with the loss of body hair about 1.2 million years ago and that this common ancestor had dark skin.
Average skin colors are seen as most attractive. Typically, tan is the average skin color, making it very attractive to most people. However, the most attractive skin color varies on preference, culture, and sex. A healthy skin complexion and rosy “glow” is always considered attractive.
A baby's skin color is a polygenic trait. This means that the skin color a baby has depends on more than one gene . When a baby inherits skin color genes from both biological parents, a mixture of different genes will determine their skin color.
Summarising these studies, Hanel and Carlberg (2020) decided that the alleles of the two genes SLC24A5 and SLC45A2 which are most associated with lighter skin colour in modern Europeans originated in West Asia about 22,000 to 28,000 years ago and these two mutations each arose in a single carrier.
“Work in our lab has shown that darkly pigmented skin has far better function, including a better barrier to water loss, stronger cohesion, and better antimicrobial defense, and we began to ponder the possible evolutionary significance of that,” said Peter Elias, MD, professor of dermatology.
Babies inherit two copies of each gene (one from each parent), and the combination of dominant and recessive alleles across these genes determines the resulting skin tone.
Microscopic appearance. Melanin is brown, non-refractile, and finely granular with individual granules having a diameter of less than 800 nanometers. This differentiates melanin from common blood breakdown pigments, which are larger, chunky, and refractile, and range in color from green to yellow or red-brown.
- Acts 10:34,35. For this question, we have to understand that Adam and Eve were not white as many depictions of them claim them to be. They were most likely a blend of white and black and carried those genes for their offspring to eventually develop either lighter or darker skin depending on the environment.
Look into a mirror in natural light. Artificial lighting can alter the appearance of your natural skin colour. Notice the colour of the skin along your jawline or behind your ear. These areas typically tend to show your skin tone in its purest form, without any redness or discolouration that could get in the way.
The darkest skin color indicates the presence of three dominant alleles (AABBCC). Therefore dark skin is a dominant character. The lightest skin color indicates the presence of recessive alleles (aabbcc). Because melanin is a dominant phenotype, and all-white skin genes are recessive.
Researchers agree that our early australopithecine ancestors in Africa probably had light skin beneath hairy pelts. “If you shave a chimpanzee, its skin is light,” says evolutionary geneticist Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Pennsylvania, the lead author of the new study.
The most lightly pigmented (European, Chinese and Mexican) skin types have approximately half as much epidermal melanin as the most darkly pigmented (African and Indian) skin types.
In some cultures, lighter skin has been associated with privilege, power, and social status, creating a bias towards individuals with paler complexions. This bias is deeply rooted in historical constructs of colonialism, where lighter-skinned individuals were often viewed as superior or more desirable.
The Role of Genetics in Skin Color
If both parents have fair skin, the baby is more likely to have fair skin, and the same applies if both parents have darker skin. However, there can also be variations in skin color among siblings due to the complex interplay of genes.
The nucleus contains genetic info in a combination of 23 pairs of chromosomes that are made from DNA. You inherit one pair from each of your parents. Only one pair, chromosome 23 determines the gender. Genetically, a person actually carries more of his/her mother's genes than his/her father's.
From previous research, it has confirmed that people are more interested in brighter irises than darker ones, and it seems that the stereotype of blue and green eyes being the most amazing does exist, as the recent research shows that the most scientifically attractive eye color is either blue and green.
Natalie Portman is known for her perfectly clear and radiant complexion, her skin seems to glow so naturally. The star insists on the importance of drinking a lot of water every day to keep the skin moisturized and fresh.
An oval face is considered one of the best attractive face shapes for women, but unfortunately not for men. Though, for hair cuts it is a good face shape to have, because many look will look good on you. Men with an oval face can pull off different shapes and lengths because the face is well balanced.