Genetic variant

rs1667394 a variant in the HERC2 gene

rs1667394 is a single-letter difference in the HERC2 gene, on chromosome 15. ClinVar, the public archive of variant interpretations, lists it as association: seen more often in people with a condition, which is not the same as causing it. It has been reported in connection with Skin/hair/eye pigmentation 1 and Blue/nonblue eyes. Carrying it does not, on its own, mean you have or will develop any condition.

What is this?

Your DNA is a long sequence of four letters. At a few million positions, people commonly differ by a single letter; each of those positions is called a SNP (“snip”), and rs1667394 is the catalogue number of one of them, in the HERC2 gene. Which letters you carry there — one copy from each parent — is your genotype.

HERC2 (HECT and RLD domain containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2): This gene belongs to the HERC gene family that encodes a group of unusually large proteins, which contain multiple structural domains. All members have at least 1 copy of an N-terminal region showing homology to the cell cycle regulator RCC1 and a C-terminal HECT (homologous to E6-AP C terminus) domain found in a number of E3 ubiquitin protein ligases.

Gene description from NCBI Gene

rs1667394 increases susceptibility to Blond rather than brown hair 4.94 times for carriers of the A ...

From SNPedia

Why might it matter?

ClinVar records this variant as association, meaning seen more often in people with a condition, which is not the same as causing it. A classification describes the variant, not you: what it means for one person depends on their genotype, their family history and often on other genes and circumstances.

Conditions it has been reported with

Listed in ClinVar submissions for this variant. Being listed is a report of an association, not a statement that the variant causes the condition in any given person.

Do I have this variant?

If you have taken a consumer DNA test (23andMe, AncestryDNA and similar), you can download its raw data file and check. Create a free account, upload the file, and this page will show the letters you carry at rs1667394, if your test read this position.

Connect this with your blood results

A gene is a fixed instruction; a blood test shows what your body is doing now. CheckMyBloods reads the two side by side, so a variant can be set against the markers it could plausibly affect.

Blood markers do not diagnose a genetic condition, and a variant does not explain a blood result on its own. Together, with symptoms and family history, they give a clinician context.

What should I do next?

  1. Find out whether you carry it. Reading about a variant says nothing about you until you know your genotype.
  2. Put it in context. Add your blood results, so the variant can be read against what your body is doing.
  3. Ask questions. Dr. Hemsworth, our AI assistant, can explain this variant and your results in plain English.
  4. Take anything that worries you to a professional. A GP or genetic counsellor can order a confirmatory test and interpret it with your history.

This page is general information drawn from public research databases. It cannot diagnose anything, and it is not a substitute for advice from a doctor or genetic counsellor who knows your history.

Technical details

dbSNP ID
rs1667394
Gene
HERC2
Position (GRCh38)
chr15:28285035
Variant type
snv
Consequence
intron variant
ClinVar classification
association

Genome-wide association studies (9)

TraitRisk alleleOR / betaP-valueStudy
Blue vs. brown eyes A OR 29.43 1E-241 PubMed
Eye color traits — OR 1.84 5E-163 PubMed
Low tan response C OR 0.23 4E-78 PubMed
Blond vs. brown/black hair color C OR 1.01 3E-77 PubMed
Blue vs. green eyes A OR 6.74 2E-53 PubMed
Blond vs. brown hair color A OR 4.94 6E-35 PubMed
Brown vs. black hair color C OR 0.63 4E-22 PubMed
Eye color C OR 0.35 2E-20 PubMed
Adiponectin levels T OR 0.13 2E-6 PubMed

How common the less frequent letter is

1kG AFR
8.7%
1kG ALL
62%
1kG AMR
56.5%
1kG EAS
27.1%
1kG EUR
24.4%
1kG SAS
63.2%

Sources