The Colour of Our Skin

There are still a lot of people in the world that continue to judge others based on the colour of their skin. All they see is someone who looks different from them and they spew hate and intolerance. The sad fact is that this is happening on a daily basis throughout the world. Skin colour has been used to identify various human race ( which has been and still is a controversial method). So if people are going to use this as a way to identify race they should know more about why and how we have a wonderful array of colours of skin.

Over the years scientists have been trying to figure out the human body and how we have evolved. They have used various experiments and trials to try to learn more. They have discovered that we all have Melanin which is a pigment produced by cells called melanocytes. Melanin is responsible for the colour of our skin.

Our bodies produce Melanin to protect our skin and DNA from UV radiation. UV radiation can cause skin cancer, affect folic acid as well as a number of other complications. Therefore people who are exposed to UV light (sun) will produce more Melanin which darkens our skin to protect it. From learning this it only makes sense that countries that have more sunlight and stronger UV radiation will have darker coloured skin as more Melanin will be produced to protect the skin.

Like most genetic traits the amount of Melanin produced in a person is inherited from their ancestors. So being born with darker skin usually is a indicator that your ancestors lived in a sunny place. So the only thing that determines the colour of a persons skin is the amount of Melanin produced.

Another interesting scientific fact that has recently emerged that your DNA and that of any other person in the world is 99% identical. That's right, the person you thought was so different from you is only 1% different.