Women really are the ‘fairer’ sex, new research suggests.
Joint lead author Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, said: ‘We found that women have significantly fairer hair than men, which reflects how important cultural practices and sexual preferences are in shaping our genes and biology.’
The researchers also discovered 124 genes that play a major role in determining human hair colour, of which 100 were not previously associated with pigmentation, a study found today.
They add their findings could boost treatments in many different diseases.
Professor Spector added: ‘This work will impact several fields of biology and medicine.
‘As the largest ever genetic study on pigmentation, it will improve our understanding of diseases like melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.
‘The genes that affect hair colour also affect other cancer types, while other pigment genes affect the chances of having Crohn’s and other forms of bowel disease.’
Women are the ‘fairer’ sex as research suggests females are more likely to be blonde (stock)
‘This will impact several fields of medicine’
The researchers add their findings could advance scientists’ knowledge of other conditions linked to pigmentation, including testicular, prostate and ovarian cancers.
Professor Spector said: ‘Our work helps us to understand what causes human diversity in appearance by showing how genes involved in pigmentation subtly adapted to external environments and even social interactions during our evolution.
Co-author Dr. David Hinds, of 23andMe, added: ‘While the genetics of hair colour is an interesting problem in itself, we hope that better understanding of the biology of melanin pigmentation will be applicable to studies of diseases that interact with pigmentation, such as skin cancer or vitiligo.’
The researchers add that as well as their findings being useful in medicine, they may also be relevant in forensic science.
Joint lead author Professor Manfred Kayser, from the Erasmus University, added: ‘Besides substantially increasing our understanding of human pigmentation genetics in general, finding these new hair colour genes is also important for further increasing the accuracy of hair colour prediction from DNA traces in future forensic applications, which can help to find unknown perpetrators of crime.’
How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed the DNA of almost 300,000 people of European descent from data supplied by UK Biobank, at-home genetic-testing service 23andMe Inc, the International Visible Trait Genetics Consortium and their study partners.
Self-reported hair colour was also collected from the participants.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics.
The researchers also discovered 124 genes that play a major role in determining human hair colour, of which 100 were not previously associated with pigmentation (stock)
Hair transplants cure migraines
This comes after research released last January suggested hair transplants cure migraines.
The cosmetic procedure prevents headaches in people who have suffered crippling pain for up to 20 years, a study by the SO-EP Aesthetic & Plastic Surgery Clinic, Turkey, found.
After undergoing hair transplants, migraine sufferers who experienced agonising discomfort for up to four hours, several times a month, no longer require any pain-relieving medication, the research adds.
It is unclear how hair transplants prevent migraines, however, it may be linked to the surgery destroying nerve endings in the scalp, reducing signals that trigger such pain.
Everton striker and former England footballer Wayne Rooney underwent a hair transplant at just 25 years old in 2011 after he started to go bald.
The father-of-three, who is married to Coleen Rooney, is thought to have spent around £30,000 on subsequent procedures at London’s Harley Street Hair Clinic.
Migraine is the third most common condition in the world, affecting around one in seven people.