Have you ever tried combing your hair and wondered why it won't detangle or style the way you want it to? Most parents started to get worried when they realized their child's hair was different from others. Luckily, they aren't alone. Human geneticist Regina Betz of University Hospital Bonn in Germany and her team linked three genes that causes this silvery, spangly, spun glass hair. This is known as uncombable hair syndrome when the hair tends to grow in opposite directions. Currently there is no treatment, however, most kids outgrow these symptoms once adolescents. The gene PADI3 encodes an enzyme involved in hair shaft formation. Mutations within the PADI3 gene can disrupt hair structure. Some of the cases studied were linked to variants of TGM3 or TCHH which affect hair shaft structure. Uncombable hair syndrome isn't linked with any other health conditions which is a relief for parents.
This is not something I have ever heard of before! I find it really interesting that there are multiple genes involved in the condition and that children tend to outgrow it.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty cool to read about because I had no idea this was an actual occurrence before! This goes to show there are still numerous upon numerous factors about everything that goes into human biology and DNA we do not know about or understand yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat a very interesting article. I never knew about this condition till now. I wonder how many children have this syndrome, or if it's rare? The most interesting thing is that there is a gene linked to this syndrome. It's very astonishing to me because I've never seen a child with uncombable hair. I also wonder if ALL children with this syndrome outgrow it when they get older, or if there are still adults with this syndrome? After a fun little dig in this topic, I found that Albert Einstein had this syndrome, even in adulthood. That's such a cool fun fact!
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