AN international research team has isolated a gene involved with hair growth, which may provide clues to treating baldness, according to the August edition of Nature Genetics.
The gene when faulty causes an inherited disorder called anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, which afflicts about 125,000 Americans, causing them to have little or no hair, missing teeth and poorly developed or missing sweat glands. But when the gene is normal, it appears to have a role in the hair follicles of men.
"The researchers don't know what it's doing yet but there is a possibility that its activity is needed to keep hair," said Dr Linda Sage, spokeswoman for Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where much of the research was done.
"The gene clearly operates at an early stage of embryological development of the skin," Dr David Schlessinger, director of Washington University's Centre for Genetics in Medicine, said in a statement.
"We also speculate that it may be necessary throughout life for the continuing health of these skin organelles. So naturally we hope it holds the secret to hair growth," he added.
The disorder, which does not affect women, is caused by a defective gene in the X chromosome.
Lead authors of the study were Prof Juha Kere, acting professor of medical genetics at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Dr Anand K. Srivastava, a scientist at the Greenwood Genetic Centre in South Carolina.