ABSTRACTSkin, hair, and eye (oculocutaneous) color is due to melanin, a pigment produced by melanocytes. This review considers processes required for pigmentation and the complex genetic network that regulates them. The first requisite is migration of neural crest‐derived melanoblasts, which populate various embryonic sites, then differentiate into melanocytes or seed stem cell niches. Differentiation is marked by expression of genes essential for melanogenesis, which takes place in melanosomes and involves conversion of tyrosine into melanin. Melanosome biogenesis requires premelanosome maturation through coordinated delivery of melanogenic enzymes such as tyrosinase (TYR), structural proteins, and transporters that establish an intraluminal environment conducive to melanogenesis. Sorting of proteins through endolysosomal pathways and delivery to melanosomes is facilitated by trafficking protein complexes. Finally, melanin is transferred to keratinocytes to protect against ultraviolet light. Numerous pigment‐related disorders result from disruption of these pathways, including Waardenburg syndrome caused by melanoblast migration disruption, oculocutaneous albinism presenting with
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