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Company creates DNA test that reveals whether you carry the redhead gene

The whole “ginger” bullying problem is so bewildering because red hair is pretty great. Just think of how many women spend hours of their life in expensive salons transforming their hair colour into something on the red spectrum. The official count is: Lots.

So the persistent torment of natural redheads makes little sense, but it’s a massive issue, particularly in the U.K., with disturbing, documented cases of harassment and abuse.

"Britain has the most numbers of redheads per capita in the world," Helen Moffat, marketing manager at ScotlandsDNA, a company that analyzes people’s heritage, tells CBS News.

While the global redhead population sits somewhere around 1-2 per cent, that figure jumps up to around 13 per cent in Scotland.

That’s why ScotlandsDNA decided to launch a home testing kit that allows people to determine whether they carry the redhead gene.

Since red hair is a recessive gene, it’s possible that even a couple where both people have brown or blond hair could produce an adorable redheaded baby – provided they’re both carriers.

The company is optimistic that if people learn they have a 25 per cent chance of creating a ginger life form, they’ll feel less inclined to engage in negative or hurtful behaviour toward other redheads. After all, they can imagine their own future offspring enduring a miserable childhood filled with playground taunts.

In Ireland, for instance, 40 per cent of the population has been found to carry the gene. ScotlandsDNA hopes that if people know that, it could lead to a significant reduction in ginger-related violence.

Meanwhile, do your part to combat ginger prejudice and hug a redhead today.