Discover a gene that determines skin color

A group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, eastern USA, accidentally discovered a gene that determines the color of human skin. Skin color is still a long cryptic secret of biology. This finding was published in Science on December 16 in the United States.

Geneticists are studying cancer with experiments on fish and detect this skin color. According to Keith Cheng of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, changing an amino acid in a gene plays an important role in the color of the skin. This helps explain why Europeans are whiter than Africans.

The discovery of this gene's role, known as SLC24A5, may pave the way for other studies of treating people with melanoma, or skin cancer. This finding may allow the development of skin color modifications without damaging the skin. Scientists have previously identified about 100 genes that play a less or more role in determining skin color.

UA