Toward the full spectrum of genes for human skin colour

Humans across the globe shows a remarkable diversity in colouration of skin, hair and eyes (Jablonski & Chaplin, 2017) reflecting adaption of pigmentation genes within populations to their environment (Sturm & Duffy, 2012), as well as other evolutionary forces. Skin colour is highly correlated with incident levels of solar UV, and this has led to hypotheses that the need for vitamin D synthesis and protection from photolysis of folate are major balancing selective pressures modulating melanogenesis in the epidermis necessary for both healthy bones at high Northern latitudes experiencing low solar irradiance, but also shielding the skin from the high equatorial sun exposure.

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