{"id":761502,"date":"2026-07-14T02:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/761502\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T02:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:09:22","slug":"the-surprising-health-benefits-of-having-orange-hair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/761502\/","title":{"rendered":"The surprising health benefits of having orange hair"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gene<\/a> behind orange-red hair<\/a> seen in a section of people may also provide some health advantages by protecting the cells that produce the pigment<\/a>, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n

The protein building-block molecule cysteine<\/a> is essential for the body to make proteins, but its levels must be kept low within cells, below the threshold of toxicity.<\/p>\n

An excessive accumulation of cystine within cells has been recognised as the cause of a form of cell death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the orange-red pigment found in human red hair and in some bird feathers<\/a> \u2013 called pheomelanin \u2013 is made using cysteine.<\/p>\n

For a long time, the pigment has presented an evolutionary puzzle, with previous research linking it to a higher risk of skin cancer<\/a> even without UV radiation exposure.<\/p>\n

It has remained unclear why traits that encourage pheomelanin production, such as orange hair<\/a>, have persisted over time.<\/p>\n

Researchers have now found that producing this pigment may actually protect health<\/a> by drawing down excess cysteine in cells, preventing the molecules from causing any damage.<\/p>\n

“These findings represent the first experimental demonstration of a physiological role for pheomelanin,” they explain in the study published in the journal PNAS Nexus.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A model poses for a photo backstage at TRESemme x Alice + Olivia (Getty Images for TRESemme)<\/p>\n

The latest research was possible thanks to a recent discovery of a molecule, ML349, that could block pheomelanin synthesis in the body.<\/p>\n

In the study, scientists assessed 65 adult zebra finches, whose orange beaks contain pheomelanin.<\/p>\n

The 65 birds were divided into a treatment group and a control group.<\/p>\n

In the treatment group, male zebra finches were given dietary cysteine along with ML349, a drug that blocks pheomelanin synthesis.<\/p>\n

Male birds that received both cysteine and ML349 showed more serious cell damage than males that received cysteine alone.<\/p>\n

Scientists found that pheomelanin production seemed to help cells keep cysteine levels in balance.<\/p>\n

Female birds given cysteine alone also tended to show more cell-level damage than controls.<\/p>\n

The findings suggest pheomelanin production in the body helps maintain cysteine balance by converting excess cysteine into an inert pigment that doesn’t damage cells.<\/p>\n

“These results demonstrate that pheomelanin synthesis avoids cellular damage by excreting excess cysteine to inert keratinous structures such as feathers,” scientists wrote.<\/p>\n

This protective role, according to researchers, could be why pheomelanin-promoting genetic traits remain in populations, even though there are associated melanoma risks.<\/p>\n

“These findings prove a role of pheomelanin in cysteine homeostasis, opening a better understanding of melanoma risk through environmental factors affecting cysteine availability,” scientists wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The gene behind orange-red hair seen in a section of people may also provide some health advantages by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[325994,260310,79],"class_list":["post-761502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-pheomelanin","tag-red-hair","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}