Genetics, What'll they think of next?
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A topic inspired by a newspaper article I am about to share with you all  | QUOTE ("Carla Caruso (Fashion Editor) Fiona Macrae") | Red Badge Of Courage Beats Pain
If your hair’s the colour of a carrot, you may get a lot of stick.
But when the going gets tough, the ginger locks could put you head and shoulders above the rest.
New research reveals that redheads are better at coping with pain than blondes and brunettes.
Scientists have found that the gene responsible for flame-coloured hair gives what amounts to a built-in anaesthetic.
It could help explain the strength of character of famous redheads through the ages, from Cleopatra and George Washington to Napoleon and Winston Churchill.
Being tougher than the rest has also helped crows defender Ben Hart and Wedding Crashers star Isla Fisher rise to the top of their fields.
The hair colour gene produces a protein pivotal to feeling pain.
In blondes and brunettes, it produces high levels of the protein, which means they feel pain more keenly.
Redheads have a slightly different copy of the gene, which does not release as much of the protein, allowing them to deal with pain better.
Sarah Andrea, 17, of Yankalilla, a redhead, says she is ‘fairly tough’.
“I can put up with pain, but I’m pretty weak when it comes to injections,” She says.
“I don’t usually get sick and I’ve managed to beat the ‘flu this time around.”
Titian-haired Adelaide singer Catherine Lambert agrees that redheads are a tough lot.
“My son was born breech – bottom first – and I did it naturally,” she says.
“I think I’m fairly resilient. I refuse to get sick.”
Scientists hope unlocking the secrets of the gene will lead to new anaesthetics and painkillers for the chronically ill.
Professor Ian Jackson, of the Medical Research Council’s Human Genetics Unit in London, said “redheads have a significantly higher pain threshold and require less anaesthetic to block certain pains.”
(Source: The Advertiser, Thursday 11/08/2005, Page 9)
(www.theadvertiser.com.au)
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