Would you want to change his look? Does George Clooney need to get rid of the gray hair? Gray hair could be cured once and for all. Science has just broke the secret code to stop hair from going gray.
Gray hair is, along with premature balding, one of the greatest fears of
image-conscious men and women everywhere, but it may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists at the Ito Lab at
New York University's Langone Medical Center have identified the proteins that cause gray hair, which could lead to an eventual cure.
Scientists have known for years that hair color is determined by the
stem cells that guide the development of hair follicles working together
with color-producing stem cells called melanocytes. Today, NYU
researchers announced they had isolated the wnt protein, which serves to
coordinate pigmentation between the two types of stem cells.
Already, scientists have managed to start with black mice and once they
inhibited the Wnt pathway in their melanocyte stem cells, they
eventually turned gray.
"Mouse and the human hairs are very similar in the way that they are
structured and the way they contain melanocyte stem cells. We found that
the wnt signaling pathway is activated the same way," said Piul
Rabbani, a grad student in NYU's Langone Medical Center who led the
study, told
ABC News.
This breakthrough means that one day the wnt protein could be added to
hair grooming products or supplements and help turn back the clock.
"Our hair follicles and the pigmentation from the melanocyte stem cells
work in a very similar fashion, so it definitely can be applied at some
point in the future," Rabbani told ABC News.
