Disruption of the homeostasis of melanocytes results in pigmentary disorders, the most extreme of which are vitiligo, an acquired depigmentary disorder caused by loss of melanocytes, and melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer caused by uncontrolled proliferation due to mutations in genes such as CDKN2A, and/or by reduced DNA repair capacity due to mutations in genes such as the melanocortin 1 receptor gene (MC1R; Alikhan et al., 2011; Abbas et al., 2014). The gene discussed is MC1R; the disease is vitiligo.