The secret of blonde hair

Researchers studying pigmentation in the South Pacific have uncovered a key genetic contribution to hair colour.

The findings, published in Science, reveal a functional genetic variant which has led the islanders to have simultaneously the darkest skin pigmentation outside of Africa and the highest prevalence of blonde hair outside of Europe.

Blond Solomon Islander (c. Sean Myles)

Human skin and hair colour varies considerably both within and among populations. Previous studies have shown that pigmentation is largely heritable but also suggest it has evolved to adapt to the sun’s ultraviolet rays — with populations near the equator possessing darker skin and hair colour.

However, the Melanesian population of the Solomon Islands, East of Papua New Guinea, differs from this trend.

The research – co-led by Dr Nic Timpson from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology at the University of Bristol and researchers at Stanford University in the US – sought to find out what has caused these islanders to possess such discordant patterns of pigmentation, some of the greatest in the world.

The team took samples from a pool of Melanesian participants, 43 with blonde hair and 42 with dark hair, and carried out genetic analysis to compare their genomes. The results showed that the across the whole genome, one key gene region contained the variation responsible for differences in the cells that produce darkening pigmentation, or melanocytes.

Naturally blonde hair is a surprisingly unusual trait in humans which is typically associated with people from Scandinavian and Northern European countries. The team’s findings help explain the fascinating differences in these physical characteristics, but also underline the importance of genetic mapping using isolated populations to help shed new light on the epidemiology of disease.

Was Fergie right to demand payment?

Richard Hillgrove thinks Sarah Ferguson was justified in demanding money in return for an introduction to her ex-husband. Controversial? Maybe. But then again there’s nothing like a spot of opportunism to promote your PR company is there?

Hillgrove (left) is former PR to Dragon's Den star James Caan

The News of the World filmed the Duchess allegedly making arrangements for the money to be paid into her bank account by a reporter who was posing as a businessman. The newspaper also claimed that it knew of two businessmen who had been introduced to Fergie’s former hubbie – the Duke of York and the UK’s Special Representative for Trade and Investment – by the Duchess herself.

But, according to Hillgrove – Managing Director of Hillgrove PR:

“Money changes hands so that businesses can gain access to influential people every day of the week. It is a vital part of business: there is nothing unusual about what the Duchess of York did. Facilitating a business introduction is legitimate work and if she has been approached the Duchess is correct to expect payment if she makes it happen.”

What do you think?

Council Tax set to rise – or not…

A proposed Council Tax-evaluation policy is reassessing current house values. Councils are set to penalise those who live in nice areas and offer discounts to those who live in rough ones.

This should be good news for all those decent, long-suffering types who live near Windsor Castle. The extended family that lives inside the WC is run by a grumpy old woman with a pack of irritable dogs allowed to run without leads. Her car isn’t taxed or insured. It doesn’t even have a number plate, yet the police still do nothing.

To the best of my knowledge, this woman has never worked. Her bad-tempered old man is well-known for making racist comments.  A shopkeeper blamed him for arranging the murder of his son and his son’s girlfriend, but nothing has been proved.

All their kids have broken marriages except the youngest, who everyone thought was gay. Two grandsons are meant to be in the Army but they are always out partying in nightclubs. It is not known if they have the same father. In my opinion, they are out of control.

Values – then and now

Have been reading extracts from David Kynaston’s ‘Family Britain 1951-57′ (published by Bloomsbury). Perhaps my children should read it.

For years I’ve been painting a picture of a long-gone era of respect, Spitfire kits and dolly mixtures. But no-one believed it to be true. Now Mr Kynaston has come to the rescue. It’s a bit ‘Just William’:

“We played in the street with our friends and were safe; we climbed trees, skinned our knees and ripped our clothes, got into fights and nobody sued anybody. Sweets were a treat, not part of lunch. We got a clip round the ear when we had been naughty, and Mum gave us a teaspoon of malt and cod liver oil before school.”

As well as the reference to sweets, I particularly liked:

“We were allowed to answer the phone on our birthday as a special treat.”

In fact, I guffawed at that one. Imagine today’s little darlings doing without their mobiles. What Kynaston identified were wartime values which were still very strong, even in the 1960s. As were respectability and trust.

Contrast this with The Sunday Telegraph’s excellent leader of 8 November which shows how far we’ve sunk. It lays the sacrifices of both World Wars against the behaviour of today’s politicians, and the public’s belief in the integrity of the political process which has been greatly damaged by this Government:

“The contempt for ordinary voters, and so for democracy itself, shown by the failure to call a referendum has many to doubt whether the present Government can be trusted with any important decision at all.

“The scandal over MPs’ expenses has had a similar effect, for it has created the impression that whatever they say about their devotion to ‘public service’, MPs’ highest priority is actually their own private gain. While the party leaders have insisted that all of Sir Christopher Kelly’s proposed reforms to the system of allowances and expenses must be adopted, the reluctance of MPs themselves to embrace those reforms has reinforced that pernicious impression.

“This is extremely dangerous, for it strikes at the heart of the trust that we, as people, must have in our representatives if our system of government is to work.

“If we come to believe that our MPs are working not for us but for themselves then we cannot trust them to choose what is best for the country.

“As the trust on which our democratic system depends continues to evaporate, that democracy becomes ever harder to sustain. And if it falters, the sacrifices made to preserve it in the wars of the last century will have been in vain. On Remembrance Sunday, that is certainly something sobering to remember.”