Editing Human skin color (section)

==== East Asia ====
A number of genes known to affect skin color have alleles that show signs of positive selection in East Asian populations. Of these, only OCA2 has been directly related to skin color measurements, while DCT, MC1R and ATRN are marked as [[candidate gene]]s for future study.

===== OCA2 =====
[[File:OCA2 (rs12913832).png|thumb|OCA2 (rs12913832)]]
[[OCA2|Oculocutaneous albinism II]] (OCA2) assists in the regulation of [[pH]] in melanocytes. The OCA2 gene's derived ''His615Arg'' (rs1800414<ref name="ncbi_rs18">{{Cite web |title=rs1800414 RefSNP Report |author= |work=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |date= |access-date=15 February 2021 |url= https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp/rs1800414 |quote=}}</ref>) allele has been shown to account for about 8% of the skin tone difference between African and East Asian populations in studies of an East Asian population living in Toronto and a Chinese [[Han Chinese|Han]] population. This variant is essentially restricted to East Asia, with highest frequencies in Eastern East Asia (49–63%), midrange frequencies in Southeast Asia, and the lowest frequencies in Western China and some Eastern European populations.<ref name="Edwards2010">{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Melissa |last2=Bigham |first2=Abigail |last3=Tan |first3=Jinze |last4=Li |first4=Shilin |last5=Gozdzik |first5=Agnes |last6=Ross |first6=Kendra |last7=Jin |first7=Li |last8=Parra |first8=Esteban J. |editor1-last=McVean |editor1-first=Gil |title=Association of the OCA2 Polymorphism His615Arg with Melanin Content in East Asian Populations: Further Evidence of Convergent Evolution of Skin Pigmentation |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=e1000867 |year=2010 |pmid=20221248 |pmc=2832666 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1000867 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=A global view of the OCA2-HERC2 region and pigmentation |year=2012 |url=http://medicine.yale.edu/labs/kidd/www/511.pdf |last1=Donnelly |doi=10.1007/s00439-011-1110-x |journal=Human Genetics |volume=131 |issue=5 |pages=683–696 |first1=Michael P. |pmid=22065085 |pmc=3325407 |last2=Paschou |first2=Peristera |last3=Grigorenko |first3=Elena |last4=Gurwitz |first4=David |last5=Barta |first5=Csaba |last6=Lu |first6=Ru-Band |last7=Zhukova |first7=Olga V. |last8=Kim |first8=Jong-Jin |last9=Siniscalco |first9=Marcello |last10=New |first10=Maria |last11=Li |first11=Hui |last12=Kajuna |first12=Sylvester L. B. |last13=Manolopoulos |first13=Vangelis G. |last14=Speed |first14=William C. |last15=Pakstis |first15=Andrew J. |last16=Kidd |first16=Judith R. |last17=Kidd |first17=Kenneth K. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103050619/http://medicine.yale.edu/labs/kidd/www/511.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===== Candidate genes =====
A number of studies have found genes linked to human skin pigmentation that have alleles with statistically significant frequencies in Chinese and East Asian populations. While not linked to measurements of skin tone variation directly, [[dopachrome tautomerase]] (DCT or TYRP2 rs2031526<ref name="ncbi_rs20">{{Cite web |title=rs2031526 RefSNP Report |author= |work=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |date= |access-date=15 February 2021 |url= https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp/rs2031526 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Identifying genes underlying skin pigmentation differences among human populations|year=2006 |journal=Human Genetics|volume=120|issue=5|pages=613–621|doi=10.1007/s00439-006-0256-4 |pmid=16977434 |last1=Myles|first1=S |last2=Somel|first2=M |last3=Tang|first3=K |last4=Kelso|first4=J |last5=Stoneking|first5=M |s2cid=32371450}}</ref>), [[melanocortin 1 receptor]] (MC1R) ''Arg163Gln'' (rs885479<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/snp_ref.cgi?rs=885479 Reference SNP(refSNP) Cluster Report: rs885479] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160919022256/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/SNP/snp_ref.cgi?rs=885479 |date=2016-09-19 }}. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (2008-12-30). Retrieved 2011-02-27.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=Peng |last2=Lu |first2=Xue Mei |last3=Luo |first3=Huai Rong |last4=Xiang-Yu |first4=Jin-Gong |last5=Zhang |first5=Ya Ping |title=Melanocortin-1 receptor gene variants in four Chinese ethnic populations |journal=Cell Research |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=81–4 |year=2001 |pmid=11305330 |doi=10.1038/sj.cr.7290070|doi-access=free }}</ref>) and [[ATRN|attractin]] (ATRN<ref name="Norton2006" />) have been indicated as potential contributors to the evolution of light skin in East Asian populations.