Forensic Value in Hair Color

Levels of Human Hair Pigment

In this article the science used in identifying human eye color is being utilized to identify another form of phenotypic expression. The identification of genetic expression has gone from science fiction novel to a real world possibility. Scientists have already been able to determine the eye color of an individual with very limited DNA variants. This success has given scientists the idea to do the same with the expression of hair color. Although this has no medical value, this information can prove invaluable in the field of forensics. This research was carried out on populations of Polish Europeans to analyze their genotypic variation of hair color. The research shows that the predictions of red, black, and blonde hair were over 90% and the predictions for brown hair were 80%. The predictors could also determine the difference between shades of hair color, such as dirty blonde and blonde. This data further demonstrates the value of the ability to accurately predict hair color from a small amount of DNA.