Today we will talk about, how scientists discovered and proved the link between genes, responsible for hair color, with genes, controlling the body’s immune system.
Have you ever wondered why people who survived a serious illness sometimes suddenly turn gray for no reason? Sometimes this phenomenon affects very young people, whose body is still actively growing and developing. Well, scientists have an answer to this question.
A research group from the United States dealing with the issues of genetic aging of the body has been investigating the phenomenon of human gray hair for several years. Through experiments on mice, they found that the MITF gene, which is associated with the regulation of the level of interferon proteins that resist bacteria and viruses, reduces their number in melanocyte cells. Melancytes are cells responsible for the production of pigment for our skin, iris and, of course, hair. As a result, the color of your hair can be directly related to your health.
“This finding suggests that genes that control hair and skin pigmentation are also involved in the management of the immune system,” – quoted by the Science Daily portal William Pavan, one of the authors of the study. By the way, the results of their work published in the journal PLOS Biology.
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