About us
The Red Hair Variants Project was created to collect data from members who carry at least one of a number of red hair variants on the MC1R (Melanocortin 1 Receptor) gene.
The most common red hair variants are listed in the table of red hair variants below.
If you have Family Finder, 23andMe, AncestryDNA or other autosomal DNA test results, you can download your raw data and check to see if you are a carrier of any of the more common red hair variants.
Go to the spreadsheet of your raw data and do a Ctrl+f search for the RefSNP number (the rs number) of the red hair variant you're looking for. To do that, hold down the Ctrl key and type f. Enter the rs number of the red hair variant and click on Find or Find Next. If the "risk allele" comes up at least once, you are a carrier of that variant. If it comes up twice, you are homozygous for that variant and probably have red hair. The risk allele is the letter outside and to the left of the parentheses in the Risk Allele column in the table below. Be aware that the most common result is two copies of the ancestral allele (the non-risk allele).
If you have 23andMe results, just go to your account and click on the drop down arrow in the upper right. Next, click on Resources. Then click on the Browse Data button in the Browse Raw Genotyping Data box. Enter the rs number of the red hair variant in the search box and either press Enter or click on the magnifying glass search icon. The MC1R gene is Chromosome 16. Your results will appear below a graphic of the chromosomes.
Please note that some of the red hair variants in the table below are not currently included in Family Finder results (they're marked with an asterisk).
Please do NOT join this project unless you are a carrier of at least one red hair variant and have autosomal test results to prove it.
You do not have to have red hair to join this project. If you carry only one risk allele of a red hair variant, you probably do not have red hair, but you are a carrier and can pass the trait on to your children. Red hair is a recessive trait. It generally takes at least two risk alleles for a person to actually have red hair.
The following MC1R red hair variants are also commonly found but are not currently included in Family Finder test results:
FTDNA's Red Hair Variants Project is an autosomal dna project (obviously), but one thing everyone should keep in mind is that if you join, you won't show up on the project's public web site unless you have y-dna or mtDNA results from FTDNA.
That is the way FTDNA projects are set up, for one thing, because FTDNA began with y-dna and mtDNA testing, and its first projects were all y-dna and/or mtDNA projects. I doubt anyone would want his or her autosomal data put on display anyway.
So, if you want to show up on the project's public web site in one of the red hair variant categories, you'll need y-dna or mtDNA results from FTDNA.
It's a good idea to get them anyway!
If you have Family Finder, 23andMe, AncestryDNA or other autosomal DNA test results, you can download your raw data and check to see if you are a carrier of any of the more common red hair variants.
Go to the spreadsheet of your raw data and do a Ctrl+f search for the RefSNP number (the rs number) of the red hair variant you're looking for. To do that, hold down the Ctrl key and type f. Enter the rs number of the red hair variant and click on Find or Find Next. If the "risk allele" comes up at least once, you are a carrier of that variant. If it comes up twice, you are homozygous for that variant and probably have red hair. The risk allele is the letter outside and to the left of the parentheses in the Risk Allele column in the table below. Be aware that the most common result is two copies of the ancestral allele (the non-risk allele).
If you have 23andMe results, just go to your account and click on the drop down arrow in the upper right. Next, click on Resources. Then click on the Browse Data button in the Browse Raw Genotyping Data box. Enter the rs number of the red hair variant in the search box and either press Enter or click on the magnifying glass search icon. The MC1R gene is Chromosome 16. Your results will appear below a graphic of the chromosomes.
Please note that some of the red hair variants in the table below are not currently included in Family Finder results (they're marked with an asterisk).
Please do NOT join this project unless you are a carrier of at least one red hair variant and have autosomal test results to prove it.
You do not have to have red hair to join this project. If you carry only one risk allele of a red hair variant, you probably do not have red hair, but you are a carrier and can pass the trait on to your children. Red hair is a recessive trait. It generally takes at least two risk alleles for a person to actually have red hair.
The following MC1R red hair variants are also commonly found but are not currently included in Family Finder test results:
FTDNA's Red Hair Variants Project is an autosomal dna project (obviously), but one thing everyone should keep in mind is that if you join, you won't show up on the project's public web site unless you have y-dna or mtDNA results from FTDNA.
That is the way FTDNA projects are set up, for one thing, because FTDNA began with y-dna and mtDNA testing, and its first projects were all y-dna and/or mtDNA projects. I doubt anyone would want his or her autosomal data put on display anyway.
So, if you want to show up on the project's public web site in one of the red hair variant categories, you'll need y-dna or mtDNA results from FTDNA.
It's a good idea to get them anyway!