Scientists Find 'Werewolf' Gene
Published June 04, 2011
LiveScience
Guinnessworldrecords.com
Supatra "Nat" Sasuphan, the world's hairiest child.
Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation responsible for a disorder that causes people to sprout thick hair on their faces and bodies.
Hypertrichosis, sometimes called "werewolf syndrome" is a very rare condition, with fewer than 100 cases documented worldwide. But researchers knew the disorder runs in families, and in 1995 they traced the approximate location of the mutation to a section of the X chromosome (one of the two sex chromosomes) in a Mexican family affected by hypertrichosis.
Men with the syndrome have hair covering their faces and eyelids, while women grow thick patches on their bodies. In March, a Thai girl with the condition got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's hairiest child.
A man in China with congenital hypertrichosis helped researchers break the case. Xue Zhang, a professor of medical genetics at the Peking Union Medical College, tested the man and his family and found an extra chunk of genes on the X chromosome. The researchers then returned to the Mexican family and also found an extra gene chunk (which was different from that of the Chinese man) in the same location of their X chromosomes. [Top 10 Worst Hereditary Conditions]
The extra DNA may switch on a hair-growth gene nearby, resulting in runaway furriness. The best bet for a culprit, wrote study researcher Pragna Patel of the University of Southern California, is a gene called SOX3, which is known to play a role in hair growth.
RELATED LINKS11-Year-Old 'Delighted' After Being Named World's Hairiest GirlScientists Rediscover Africa's 'Terrible Hairy Fly'Scientists Discover Giant Rat, Frog With Fangs in 'Lost World' Habitat
"If in fact the inserted sequences turn on a gene that can trigger hair growth, it may hold promise for treating baldness or hirsutism [excessive hair growth] in the future, especially if we could engineer ways to achieve this with drugs or other means," Patel said in a statement.
The study is detailed in the June 2 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
* Top 10 Stigmatized Health Disorders * The Top 10 Worst Hereditary Conditions * Top 10 Mysterious Diseases
Copyright © 2011 LiveScience.com. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Published June 04, 2011
LiveScience
Guinnessworldrecords.com
Supatra "Nat" Sasuphan, the world's hairiest child.
Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation responsible for a disorder that causes people to sprout thick hair on their faces and bodies.
Hypertrichosis, sometimes called "werewolf syndrome" is a very rare condition, with fewer than 100 cases documented worldwide. But researchers knew the disorder runs in families, and in 1995 they traced the approximate location of the mutation to a section of the X chromosome (one of the two sex chromosomes) in a Mexican family affected by hypertrichosis.
Men with the syndrome have hair covering their faces and eyelids, while women grow thick patches on their bodies. In March, a Thai girl with the condition got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's hairiest child.
A man in China with congenital hypertrichosis helped researchers break the case. Xue Zhang, a professor of medical genetics at the Peking Union Medical College, tested the man and his family and found an extra chunk of genes on the X chromosome. The researchers then returned to the Mexican family and also found an extra gene chunk (which was different from that of the Chinese man) in the same location of their X chromosomes. [Top 10 Worst Hereditary Conditions]
The extra DNA may switch on a hair-growth gene nearby, resulting in runaway furriness. The best bet for a culprit, wrote study researcher Pragna Patel of the University of Southern California, is a gene called SOX3, which is known to play a role in hair growth.
RELATED LINKS11-Year-Old 'Delighted' After Being Named World's Hairiest GirlScientists Rediscover Africa's 'Terrible Hairy Fly'Scientists Discover Giant Rat, Frog With Fangs in 'Lost World' Habitat
"If in fact the inserted sequences turn on a gene that can trigger hair growth, it may hold promise for treating baldness or hirsutism [excessive hair growth] in the future, especially if we could engineer ways to achieve this with drugs or other means," Patel said in a statement.
The study is detailed in the June 2 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
* Top 10 Stigmatized Health Disorders * The Top 10 Worst Hereditary Conditions * Top 10 Mysterious Diseases
Copyright © 2011 LiveScience.com. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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