New Hair Loss Genes Discovered

Genes are known to play the largest part in the onset of male pattern baldness

Japanese scientists have announced that they have identified a particular gene which they say is responsible for cyclical hair loss in laboratory mice and which is likely to also be linked to hair loss in men and women.

The scientists bred mines which lacked a particular gene called the Sox21 gene and they saw that these mice started to lose their hair after eleven days from being born. The hair loss began at their heads and slowly spread down their bodies.  After three weeks the mice had lost all of their body hair but fascinatingly a few days later hair started to grow again followed by further hair loss. This led them to believe that the gene was not simply one which was required for hair growth but one which is linked to the cycle of hair growth and hair loss which every person experiences from time to time.  The hair on your head is either in a growing phase or a shedding phase and this is completely normal.

Professor Yumiko Saga who led the researchers works for the Division of Mammalian Development at the National Institute of Genetics based in Mishima, Japan said that further testing has shown that the Sox21 was present in human skin and in the human hair shaft cuticle. The research which was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is another exciting development in the world of hair loss research. Millions of pounds are being poured into genetic remedies for hair loss because of the huge financial returns that could be generated from something that really worked.

Genes are known to play the largest part in the development of male pattern baldness because of the simple fact that some people get it and some people don’t which is not related to any external factors. A hair loss remedy which could ‘switch off’ the hair loss gene in men would be a huge discovery and one which would earn the person and company who discovered it lifelong fame and recognition as well as more money than they could possibly ever spend.

Until a genetic remedy for male pattern baldness appears the most effective medication on the market is the hair loss drug Propecia made by the drug company Merck.