Wondering
why do some people have curly hair? Well, Australian scientists claim to have
identified a gene responsible for creating such
tresses.
Professor Nick Martin and Dr Sarah Medland from the
Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have discovered trichohyalin
gene that plays a vital role in development of the hair
follicle.
They said that it is variation in this gene that determines
the straightness or curliness of hair.
A group of Japanese
researchers had previously found the genetic variations for the thick, straight
hair that is predominant in Asian populations.
The differences in the
EDAR and FGFR2 genes were identified last year and are thought to have occurred
as part of the evolution of Asian populations following their prehistoric
divergence from Europeans.
In the new study, the research team
sought to determine a similar variation responsible for curly hair in those of
European descent.
It is known that 45pct of European people have
straight hair, 40pct have wavy hair and 15pct have curly hair.
They
analysed data collected from a study of 5000 twins in Australia over a 30-year
period. The twins had previously been asked if their hair was straight, wavy or
curly and the lab then sought to match the reports with the 2.5 million
single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) they had mapped on the twins''
genomes.
Martin says it was a "Bingo!" moment when the results showed
a big hit on chromosome one, right over the trichohyalin gene.
"This
is a gene that has been known for well over twenty years as being involved in
hair production and it's a gene that sits in the sheath that's around hair root
bulbs," ABC Online quoted Martin as saying.
Forum Home
