Baldness Gene Discovered — 1 In 7 Men "At Risk"

FiReaNGeL writes "Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study of 1,125 Caucasian men who had been assessed for male pattern baldness. They found two previously unknown genetic variants on chromosome 20 that substantially increased the risk of male pattern baldness. They then confirmed these findings in an additional 1,650 Caucasian men. 'If you have both the risk variants we discovered on chromosome 20 and the unrelated known variant on the X chromosome, your risk of becoming bald increases sevenfold. What's startling is that one in seven men have both of those risk variants.'" So maybe gene therapy will finally have a real purpose.

Comments

Re:Why on earth,,,

[not already in use]

Not linked to increased testosterone. Testosterone doesn't cause baldness, DHT does (which is a hormone with similar effects), the other side of the story being a gene that affects the hair follicle's susceptibility to be shrunk by DHT.