Health experts are now rushing to see whether the discovery could be used to help people reverse the ageing process and look years younger.
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Additional genes associated with hair included EDAR for beard thickness and hair shape, FOXL2 for eyebrow thickness, and PAX3 for monobrow prevalence.
Scientists have uncovered the genes at the center of some hairy business, finding the genetic reason why some people develop unibrows or grey hair.
Named IRF4, it is involved in production of melanin, the pigment that gives hair its colour.
He said the breakthrough was only possible “because we analysed a diverse melting pot of people, which hasn’t been done before on this scale”.
“These findings have potential forensic and cosmetic applications as we increase our knowledge on how genes influence the way we look”, Adhikari said.
It is hoped that understanding IRF4’s role in the greying process will lead to the development of new treatments to slow down the affects of ageing on hair, rather than just cover them up with dye.
Institutions involved in this work include UCL, Universidad de Oviedo (Spain), Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (Peru), Universidad de Tarapaca (Chile), University of Edinburgh (UK), Centro Nacional Patagonico (Argentina), National Institute of Anthropology and History (Mexico), Universidad de Antioquia (Colombia), UNAM (Mexico), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), University of Bradford (UK), University of Melbourne (Australia).
In order for researchers to compile significant data, a diverse population was the target of the study as it analyzed a varied group of 6,000 volunteers of European, African and Native American ancestry.
The team also found genes that influence hair curliness and the likelihood of growing a “monobrow”.
“It is because it makes you confront your mortality… even though we are long from the time when gray is associated with the end of life”, said Vivian Diller, a research psychologist in private practice in New York City.
“It’s not like you have that [gene] variant, so you’re certain to have gray hair”, lead researcher Andrés Ruiz-Linares told The Verge.
The gene was known to be related to hair color, but not to how hair turns grey.
It was already known that a gene called IRF4 played a crucial role in hair colour, but researchers at University College London have now, for the first time, linked it to lack of colour. Researchers at the University College London believe the gene plays a role in melanin regulation as well as hair, skin and eye’s color. “Understanding the mechanism of the IRF-4 greying association could also be relevant for developing ways to delay hair greying”, he said.
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Finding these genes supports evidence that hair features evolved through natural selection, the study authors said. They describe 18 in total, 10 of which appear to be new, according to a report in Nature Communications.
