Researchers found gene responsible for "bad" hair

If you are having a bad hair day, it might not be your fault. They have identified a gene - called frizzled 6 - which controls hair patterns, researchers say that.

It may explain why some people have kiss-curls and some bushy eyebrows.

The research, led by Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Although the gene was discovered in mice, the researchers believe it could well do the same job in humans.

To study exactly how it worked, the scientists bred genetically modified mice that lacked the gene.

They found that although the animals were normal and healthy, they had unusual whirling patterns in the hair on their head, chest and hind feet, reports BBC. co.uk

According to thisislondon.co.uk the research may also bring some comfort to teenagers obsessed with using gels and mousses to try to control their hair, such as 17-year-old Lindsay Lohan's character in the recent film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Some of the most beautiful women in the world have suffered from occasional bad hair days, such as the recently married Kate Beckinsale, along with the likes of Diana Ross and Anita Roddick.

The research calls into question the assumption that those who struggle to keep their hair under control are either incapable of grooming themselves properly or just lazy.

Lead author of the study Jeremy Nathans, of the John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said: 'This work suggests that natural variation in hair patterns may arise from variations in the genes.

Complex hair patterns occur in many mammals, including guinea pigs, prairie dogs, horses, pigs, cattle, dogs and humans, so the researchers wondered if the same genes were at work.

That led them to study the effect of deleting the Frizzled 6 gene in mice, producing unusual hair patterns, although the hair follicles looked normal under the microscope.

The bottom line of the study, Nathans explained, "is there's a system of patterning during development of the embryo."

This system can be seen by looking at the pattern of hairs, though underneath there are many other pattern systems which are not obvious from the surface, he said.

For example, Nathans said, the Frizzled 3 gene is active in determining the pathways of nerves, which need to know how to connect to do their work, inform marinij.com