The Structure of People's Hair
October 2014
in “
PeerJ
”
TLDR Hair's molecular structure is mostly consistent, but genetic differences affect lipid types, which could help diagnose diseases.
The study analyzed the molecular structure of human scalp hair from 12 individuals using X-ray diffraction, revealing consistent features such as the coiled-coil arrangement of keratin proteins and the presence of lipids in the cell membrane complex. However, significant differences in the plasma membrane composition were attributed to genetics, as evidenced by similarities in genetically related samples like identical twins and a father-daughter pair. The research concluded that common hair care products did not affect the internal keratin structure, and it also addressed and dismissed previous claims linking a specific X-ray signal to breast cancer.
