The Human Genome Project: The Skin Color Of Human Skin

Skin color is determined by five main pigments; melanin, keratin, melanoid, hemoglobin, and oxyhemoglobin. According to most researchers skin color first evolved from the Africans when they migrated to Asia and Europe. Human skin color is very diverse; it ranges all the way from dark brown to white. The Human Genome Project is one of the most known experiments to help scientists map the genome both physically and functionally. Human skin acts as a physical barrier that protects chemical and microbial factors that effects how a person looks. Human skin is made up of five layers, stratum corneum, stratum lucidern, stratum granolosum, stratum spinosum, and the basal layer. Two of the main skin color pigments keratin and melanin are found in human skin. Melanin is in the top two layers stratum corneum and lucidern. Keratin is in the bottom three layers stratum granolosum, spinisum, and the basal layer. …show more content…
Keratin is a protein that makes hair and nails. Keratinocytes(a cell that makes keratin) is attached to the epidermis which protects skin from friction and stress. Melanoid has a similar structure to melanin but is diffused differently throughout the epidermis. Hemoglobin is a protein responsible for the transportation of oxygen to the blood and also gives blood it’s red color. In lighter skinned people hemoglobin can give off a rosy complexion, and if a person has hemophilia then they appear to be really pale. Hemoglobin has a higher effect than melanin in lighter skin people. Oxyhemoglobin is formed during the physiological respiration when oxygen binds to the heme component of the hemoglobin protein in red blood