LLUIS MONTOLIU.
CSIC researcher
Lluis Montoliu Researcher of the CSICMore than 3,000 secondary school students register to attend the conference that the scientist offers today in Molina de Segura
More than 3,000 secondary school students are registered for the conference that, under the title ‘Genes of colors’, is offered today by Dr. Lluis Montoliu, at 12:30 pm, in the Virginia Martínez Fernández Auditorium, in Molina de Segura. The researcher of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Center for Biomedical Research Network on Rare Diseases (Ciberer-Carlos III Health Institute), has received numerous awards for his work and his outreach activities. Montoliu, who chairs the European Society for Pigment Cell Research, published a few months ago ‘Genes of colors’, a book that delves into the world of pigment genetics, a subject that allows us to understand issues as disparate as albinism, diversity in the color of skin, eyes or hair.
–What are color genes?
–They are those that, directly or indirectly, regulate the color of our skin, our hair or our eyes. Since these can be so different, one can think that we are more different than we really are. What I am saying is a hymn to diversity to accept ourselves as we are and so that these external aspects do not confuse us because, in reality, we are much more alike than we are willing to admit. There are only a few genes that are capable of changing our skin or our eyes.
STRESS
«Our grandmothers were right when they said that if they upset you, you will get gray hair»
-What genetic differences are there between two people who have different skin color?
-Very few. Our genomes are 99.9% alike. There is barely 0.1% difference between people. And those differences are mostly individual. Just a few genes that have to do with moving pigment to the keratinocytes in the skin are enough for a person to darken their skin. Black people don’t have more pigment cells, they’re just more efficient at moving pigment into skin cells, and that’s regulated by very few genes. And they have nothing to do with the rest of the genes that are going to determine how a person is going to be and how they are going to behave.
–In other words, racism makes even less sense if you study genetics
-Absolutely. This is the humanistic message that this book has and that should be spread among the new generations. Accept that we are diverse and have different external aspects, but in reality our dreams or our vocation have nothing to do with the color of our skin. There is nothing that justifies the discrimination of people because of their skin color.
–What does pigmentation have to do with vision or deafness?
– We barely have 20,000 genes that we need to live and each one has its functions. Color genes have to do with pigmentation. They also influence vision. People with albinism have poor pigmentation and very poor vision. But they also have to do with our hearing because we have pigment cells inside our inner ear. [dentro del caracol] and the moment we don’t have pigmentation or those cells in the ear, we’re going to have hearing problems.
The presidents of government
-You have affirmed that the presidents of government are an experiment of live and direct pigmentation. How do emotional and psychological aspects influence the appearance of gray hair?
– They absolutely influence. We associate white hair with aging, since gray hair appears when the cells that are dedicated to pigmenting each hair are depleted. But they can also be exhausted when we have very high stress levels. This can be seen in people who assume important responsibilities, such as the presidents of government. Just compare the hair color of any president when he started and when he left. Those stress hormones have contributed to emptying the pigment cells. Therefore, our grandmothers were right when they said that if they upset you, you will get gray hair.
ETHICS
«What science has to do is normalize the differences between people»
–There are fertilization clinics that offer to choose the color of the baby’s eyes. Is that possible?
-The short answer is no. Almost 700 genes are necessary to obtain a given pigment. These clinics, fortunately outside the country, what they do is a simplification to verify certain genetic variations, which are known to be associated with a certain probability to a certain eye color. It’s like playing the lottery and have little success. But beyond whether there is success or not, it is worth asking why someone wants their children to have a certain color of eyes and this would lead us to the conclusion that we associate certain colors of eyes, hair or skin with social success. Therefore, we would be using science to create differences and not to correct them. What science has to do is normalize the differences between people. I do not believe that this type of experiment is ethically justified.
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