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wrote...
11 years ago
most of the times, the freckles are inherited. Slight Smile
wrote...
11 years ago
I think you are right! The tendency to form freckles is most likely an inherited trait. It is probably governed by more than one gene, which is why it is possible for you to have the trait to a lesser extent.

As other people have posted, there is also a large environmental factor - the formation of freckles is in response to exposure to sunlight. Your nose is exposed often to the sun, so that is where you form freckles. People who have freckles all over are usually very fair-skinned (not a lot of protective melanin in their skins) so it is their skin's response to UV damage. I would GUESS that the reason they freckle rather than tan is that they have fewer melanocytes (melanin-making cells) in their skins, and that each freckle represents the area of skin around one melanocyte. People with more melanocytes would get an even tan instead, because the melanocytes would be closer together.
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