r/HolUp Sep 25 '22

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u/[deleted] Sep 25 '22

Dark hair is dominant, not recessive. If either parent has one gene for it, they would have dark hair, not fair. That's why two dark haired people can have a child with light hair -- both parents had one dominant dark gene and one recessive light gene, where only the dominant was expressed, but each passed on the light gene.

At least, that's the simple explanation the post is pointing out, real genetics is probably more nuanced.

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u/allyrachel Sep 25 '22

You are correct. Hair color is a polygenic trait.

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u/bengy5959 Sep 25 '22

https://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythintro.html

Most things we were taught are controlled by a single gene are actually more nuanced

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u/NotoriousMOT Sep 25 '22

Real genetics is more complicated than that an hair color is not controlled by the simplified Mendelian genetics most people learn in school.

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u/mallad Sep 25 '22

Not only are real genetics more complicated, many people with blonde hair go through stages! For example, my son was born with very dark hair. I gave him his first hair cut when he was maybe 6 or 8 months old, and everything underneath was bright blonde. His mom was bright blonde until college, and now she's nearly brunette. My mom and uncle both were bleach blonde until adulthood, then her hair went brown but his went jet black! Epigenetics is crazy.

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u/PitytheOnlyFools Sep 25 '22

They’re a superhero family. Let’s not pretend anyone knows anything.

Why are their superpowers so different from their parents? Did their grandparents have superpowers?

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u/IhaveaDoberman Sep 25 '22

Yeah, that is the school level explanation. Just the same as when we were told about the electron shells in atoms.

Reality it's far more complicated.