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Dear Kiesha:
Under your outer layer of skin, there are special cells which make a pigment called melanin. How
much melanin there is in your skin determines whether you are light or dark. And a second pigment,
carotene, found in your inner layer of skin, determines how yellow your skin tone is. Karin must
have just a little melanin. I bet if you look closely Karin's skin looks a little pink. Know why?
She has so little melanin it doesn't completely cover the small blood vessels under the surface of
her skin. Your skin, on the other hand, must have much more melanin. It hides your blood vessels
and gives your skin your darker, deeper color. It sounds like neither of you have carotene in your
skin. But I'm sure many of the friends around you do. How much of any of these pigments you have
is, for the most part, determined by the genes you inherit. You humans boggle my mind -- you're
such a mix of colors, shapes and sizes!
Signed,
Wendell
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