Skin Color and Human Evolution

This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that investigated genetic factors contributing to skin color differences, particularly within African populations.

In this study, scientists identified genomic regions that were significantly correlated with skin color differences. The most significant correlation between variation in skin color and variation in genetic sequence in Africans was at a gene called SLC24A5. This gene codes for a protein that affects the production of melanin, a pigment that gives skin its color and protects against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The left panel of the figure shows global erythemal dose rate as a proxy for average UV exposure. The right panel shows the proportions of different populations with one of two alleles (“G” or “A”) of the SLC24A5 gene.

The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.