Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

These studies on self-identification hinge on the idea that self-identification is derived in part from people’s interpretations of external perceptions and social context, e.g., because multiracial people with black heritage think they are viewed as black rather than multiracial, they identify as black. I seek to take a different approach and examine how racial self-identification influences perception, not of race, but of attractiveness, which has also been shown to be an agent of stratification. People viewed as more attractive are afforded a variety of privileges including being viewed as more competent (Parks and Kennedy 2007; Ritts et al. 1992), having higher incomes (Frieze et al. 1991), and having increased chances of being hired (Hosoda et al. 2003; for an in-depth review of this literature see Frevert and Walker 2014). While studies have examined the intraracial effects of skin tone on attractiveness (e.g., Hill 2002), few have explored how other processes such as multiraciality affect perceptions of attractiveness.

Robert L. Reece, “What are You Mixed with: the Effect of Multiracial Identification on Perceived Attractiveness,” The Review of Black Political Economy, June 2016, Volume 43, Issue 2, 141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12114-015-9218-1.

An Unexpectedly Complex Architecture for Skin Pigmentation in Africans

Posted in Africa, Articles, Health/Medicine/Genetics, Media Archive on 2017-12-03 03:40Z by Steven

An Unexpectedly Complex Architecture for Skin Pigmentation in Africans

Cell
Volume 171, Issue 6, 2017-11-30
pages 1340–1353.e14
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.11.015

Alicia R. Martin, Meng Lin, Julie M. Granka, Justin W. Myrick, Xiaomin Liu, Alexandra Sockell, Elizabeth G. Atkinson, Cedric J. Werely, Marlo Möller, Manjinder S. Sandhu, David M. Kingsley, Eileen G. Hoal, Xiao Liu, Mark J. Daly, Marcus W. Feldman, Christopher R. Gignoux, Carlos D. Bustamante, Brenna M. Henn

Highlights

Skin pigmentation in Africans is far more polygenic than light skin in Eurasians
Southern African KhoeSan populations have lighter skin compared to equatorial Africans
Highly heritable KhoeSan skin color variation is poorly explained by known genes
The study of African skin color identifies novel and canonical pigmentation genes

Approximately 15 genes have been directly associated with skin pigmentation variation in humans, leading to its characterization as a relatively simple trait. However, by assembling a global survey of quantitative skin pigmentation phenotypes, we demonstrate that pigmentation is more complex than previously assumed, with genetic architecture varying by latitude. We investigate polygenicity in the KhoeSan populations indigenous to southern Africa who have considerably lighter skin than equatorial Africans. We demonstrate that skin pigmentation is highly heritable, but known pigmentation loci explain only a small fraction of the variance. Rather, baseline skin pigmentation is a complex, polygenic trait in the KhoeSan. Despite this, we identify canonical and non-canonical skin pigmentation loci, including near SLC24A5, TYRP1, SMARCA2/VLDLR, and SNX13, using a genome-wide association approach complemented by targeted resequencing. By considering diverse, under-studied African populations, we show how the architecture of skin pigmentation can vary across humans subject to different local evolutionary pressures.

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: Alexandra Sockell, Alicia Martin, Alicia R. Martin, Brenna Henn, Brenna M. Henn, Carlos Bustamante, Carlos D. Bustamante, Cedric J. Werely, Cedric Werely, Cell, Christopher Gignoux, Christopher R. Gignoux, David Kingsley, David M. Kingsley, Eileen G. Hoal, Eileen Hoal, Elizabeth Atkinson, Elizabeth G. Atkinson, Julie Granka, Julie M. Granka, Justin Myrick, Justin W. Myrick, Manjinder S. Sandhu, Manjinder Sandhu, Marcus Feldman, Marcus W. Feldman, Mark Daly, Mark J. Daly, Marlo Möller, Meng Lin, pigmentation, skin color, Southern Africa, Xiao Liu, Xiaomin Liu

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Mixed Race Studies

An Unexpectedly Complex Architecture for Skin Pigmentation in Africans

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