Gingers Feel a Different Kind of Pain

People with fair skin and red hair get their distinctive looks from a mutation in the gene that codes for the protein melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R). This protein aides in the synthesis of melanin, the pigment that gives us all different colored hair and skin. Scientists have now linked this protein to endorphines and the way that we experience pain. Studies led by anesthesiologist Edwin B.

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