Abstract
Our study aims to clarify molecular basis of human skin color diversity and investigate environmental adaptability to ultraviolet irradiation in order to predict human health risk influenced by severe environments in the future. One hundred and twenty-two Caucasians living in Toledo, Ohio participated in this study. Their back and cheek were measured for melanin value for skin pigmentation index as a quantitative trait. Their buccal cells as samples were collected and used for DNA extraction. DNA was used for SNP genotyping with the technology of Masscode system that involves the two-step PCR amplification and comprises a platform chemistry of cleavable mass spectrometry tags. Our results of statistical analysis show that SNP allele in multiple loci are related and suggest high possibility of linkage disequilibrium. Our study plans to collect data on other ethic groups in order to analyze correlation between SNP allele in multiple loci and identify loci associated with human skin color diversity.
