hair loss article in the 5/27 NY Post

[hornypervert]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272009...ies_171112.htm

GROWING HOPE FOR BALDIES

By RITA DELFINER
Last updated: 10:39 am
May 27, 2009
Posted: 2:18 am
May 27, 2009

Researchers in Japan have identified a gene that could be responsible for hair loss in humans.

In genetic experiments on mice, the scientists created "mutant" rodents that lacked Sox21 -- a "master regulator" gene whose function they said is to ensure hair retention. Humans have the same gene, they said.

When scientists blocked the gene in the rodents, it led to hair loss. The mice began to shed their fur "from postnatal day 11 beginning at the head and progressing toward the tail region of the back," the scientists said.

The genetically altered mice eventually became bald, losing all their body hair, "including the whiskers," according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The lack of this gene results in a loss of the interlocking structures required for anchoring the hair shaft in the hair follicle," the researchers concluded.

Lead researcher Yumiko Saga told Agence France-Presse that the findings could lead to the development of a treatment against thinning hair.