German scientists discovered a gene that clearly seems to play an important part in males going bald. The study focused on about 500,000 portions of the human genome, in an attempt to identify the particular gene present in those who exhibit slow hair growth rates or signs of hair-loss. The approximately 300 patients involved in the experiment exhibited increased activity from this gene, as opposed to other people in the control group.
The researchers at Bonn and Düsseldorf Universities in Germany discovered the second gene known to have something to do with the balding process. However, they still aren't sure about what exactly the gene does or how it works.
"We are now trying to discover the role played by this genomic region in hair-growth. Only then will we know whether we on the right track for new forms of therapy for male hair-loss," says Dr. Felix Brockschmidt at Bonn University.
Up to this point, researchers worldwide knew just one gene responsible for baldness, which accounted for the similarities that usually occur between a man and his maternal grandfather. Being located on the X chromosome, the gene could only come from the mother.
The newly-discovered gene is found on the Y chromosome and can therefore come from any of the parents, which would explain how and why children take after their father when they exhibit premature hair-loss symptoms.
For the millions of men in the world suffering from premature baldness, this new discovery could be a sort of lifeline, as few of the currently available treatments actually work to prevent the disease. Still, a potential cure is still pretty far away, considering that the scientists barely identified the gene responsible for the affliction. Once all its acting mechanisms have been fully understood, synthesizing a cure should only be a matter of time.
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