A distinctive pigment of the skin in New Guinea indigenes

An unusual pigmentation of skin is described amongst indigenes of widely scattered areas in New Guinea. It is suggested that it is due to the accumulation of a red intermediary metabolite in the formation of melanin, and that it results from a metabolic error determined by an autosomal recessive gene. Pedigrees of thirty-three families with red skins are presented and analysed. The pigment could not be identified by histochemical studies of biopsy specimens and a portable reflectance spectrophotometer did not define its characteristics. The gene is present in high frequency in some areas in which it must possess a significant survival advantage.