He found that all genes overlapped population groups. In other words, scientists so far haven't found a single gene that matches a traditional racial characteristic, said Dr. Richard Spritz of the human genetics department at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Spritz himself studies skin pigmentation genes, and he has yet to find one that determines traditional racial skin colors. In fact, the only physical characteristic that has yet been matched to a gene is red hair, Spritz said. Africans and Australian aborigines both have black skin, but they are among the most dissimilar humans on the planet.
Aborigines are relations of people from the northern Pacific Rim.
Even the diseases traditionally associated with certain races are actually geographic, said Larry Hunter, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Talk to Us .