ABCC11 Gene

The ABCC11 gene influences apocrine gland secretion which in turn influences earwax type and armpit odor.

Alleles

People normally have two alleles per gene, one inherited from their mother and one inherited from their father.

Dry (Asian)

This allele originates from an ancient Asian mutation that occurred thousands of years ago.

Wet (Global)

This allele has been widespread globally for tens of thousands of years.

Allele Pairs

It is the combination of a person's pair of gene alleles that influences traits.

Predictable Dry-type Earwax
Predictable Less Armpit Odor
Allele Pair People with this allele pair have dry, flaky earwax. They tend to have less armpit odor than those with one or two "Wet" alleles.
Predictable Wet-type Earwax
Predictable More Armpit Odor
Allele Pair People with these allele pairs have moist, brownish earwax. While they tend to have more armpit odor than those with two "Dry" alleles, many other factors influence this trait, especially personal hygiene.

Gene Details

The ABCC11 gene is located on chromosome 16 and encodes the protein named "ATP-binding cassette sub-family C member 11", which influences the reported traits.

Additional References ABCC11
Genetics Home Reference by the U.S. National Library of Medicine ABCC11
Wikipedia ABCC11
SNPedia ABCC11
UniProt Q96J66
U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information 85320

PubMed articles

Allele Definitions

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Wet
C
G
Dry
T
A
Show Minus Strand
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Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)
[0] rs17822931 dbSNP SNPedia