Disappearing blonde gene

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perhaps recessive, but not threatened.

Disappearing blonde gene was a hoax that started circulating in the media in 2002. According to this hoax, the World Health Organization, or other experts, published a report that people with blond hair "will become extinct by 2202"^[1].

The hoax has two parts. First, neither WHO nor any reputable expert has issued such a report.

The second part of the hoax is the claim that blonde populations would eventually disappear. This is based on a misunderstanding of recessive genes. To show (or "express") the effect of a recessive gene, such as the phenotype for blondeness, a person must inherit the gene from both parents. A recessive gene inherited from only one parent is masked by a dominant gene, and not expressed. However, a recessive gene may be passed on to children. A child may be blonde even if both parents are non-blonde, so long as both parents pass on the recessive blonde gene. Unless a gene is associated with a disadvantage to survival or reproduction, it will continue to be passed on to future generations and occasionally expressed. In fact, under assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg principle, the concentration of the gene in the population will remain constant.

[edit] In the media

A number of news agencies, such as Canadian Press and BBC News took the bait. In 2002 the BBC News (and others) reported^[2] that unnamed German scientists had concluded that the natural distribution of fair hair would cease within the span of 200 years due to the genes associated with fair hair being recessive; only a select number of people from Finland will have naturally blond hair. The article stated that there is a reportedly low number of people carrying the recessive blond genes, especially in nations of mixed heritage (examples: USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia). The dominant genes (brown hair, black hair, brown eyes) 'overthrow' the recessive genes or metaphorically, endanger them. Subsequently the study was attributed to the World Health Organization.

In October 2002 the New York Times reported that the World Health Organization had no knowledge of this study.^[3] The WHO has since officially confirmed that the story is a fake. ^[4]

Causing some stir in media and blogs, including angry feminist protests and numerous rebuttals from scientists, the hoax naturally died out, only to resurface in 2006 in Sunday Times ^[5] and La Repubblica: "According to the WHO study, the last natural blond is likely to be born in Finland during 2202." It once again traveled quickly across the World Wide Web ^[6]. The hoax has been also featured on the "Threat-Down" segment of The Colbert Report on March 6, 2006, where Stephen Colbert suggested a selective breeding program to save blondes.