Curl or straighten your hair? One pill is enough!
Scientists create a pill for or for curly hair
Peter Obraztsov, News of Science
Australian scientists have determined which gene in the hereditary DNA molecule is responsible for curly hair. Work on the creation of a pill for or for curly hair is in full swing. (The previous "curly hair gene" was found almost a year ago, but for some reason they did not make any pills based on it - VM.)
We know from films about Australian Aborigines that most of them have curly hair. However, this does not apply to white citizens of Australia, among whom, as among other Caucasians, less than 15% are truly curly, that is, not using a perm. Half of the rest have straight hair, the other half have wavy hair. It has long been noticed that the sign of curly hair is inherited, and it is not surprising that the geneticists of the Medical Institute of Queensland (Australia) decided to find the gene that is responsible for this trait. Note that after decoding the human genome, genes are sought out by everyone who is not lazy – for example, it has already been reported that a gene responsible for the fusion of the earlobe with the neck has been isolated. Professor Nick Martin's group analyzed data on five thousand twins and identified a gene – a section of the DNA molecule responsible for the curly hair of its owner. It turned out that the already well-known gene that determines the formation of the protein trichogyalin in the hair simultaneously "manages" curly hair. This protein exists in various spatial configurations, and it depends on these variations whether the hair will be straight or curly.
Cosmetic companies were immediately interested in the work of Australian geneticists. Already at the beginning of next year, a meeting of Professor Martin's group with one of such companies, the name of which is not disclosed, will take place at the world beauty center in Paris. At this meeting, a report will be made on the success of the group in creating a drug, after taking which the hair will curl or straighten itself.
The effect of the pill, of course, will be temporary, since it is not yet possible to "correct" the existing gene or "insert" an absent one in an adult. But this is exactly what promises the sharks of the cosmetics business multimillion–dollar revenues - tablets will have to be bought periodically. Manufacturers of baldness remedies and doctors involved in hair transplantation were worried – perhaps the future pill will solve this problem, then they will lose their jobs. And we should expect reports of pills that change the shape of the nose, eye color, the size of a woman's breast, etc. Apparently, a set of pills "Make yourself Miss Universe in a week" will appear soon.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru15.12.2009